Cu/Al2O3 aerogels for high-efficiency and rapid iodide elimination from water

Xinyu Zhou; Pin Mao; Huiran Jin; Wanxia Huang; Aotian Gu; Kaiwei Chen; Shan Yun; Jing Chen; Yi Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130349

Cu/Al₂O₃ aerogels for high-efficiency and rapid iodide elimination from water

J Hazard Mater. 2023 Feb 5;443(Pt B):130349. doi: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130349. Epub 2022 Nov 8.

Authors

Xinyu Zhou¹, Pin Mao², Huiran Jin³, Wanxia Huang², Aotian Gu⁴, Kaiwei Chen⁴, Shan Yun², Jing Chen², Yi Yang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China; National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Mineral Salt Deep Utilization, Key Laboratory for Palygorskite Science and Applied Technology of Jiangsu Province, School of Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an 223003, China.
² National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Mineral Salt Deep Utilization, Key Laboratory for Palygorskite Science and Applied Technology of Jiangsu Province, School of Chemical Engineering, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an 223003, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering Jiangsu National Synergetic Innovation Center for Advanced Materials, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China.
⁴ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
⁵ Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Chemical Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control (AEMPC), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China. Electronic address: yangyi@njust.edu.cn.

PMID: 36370479
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2022.130349

Abstract

Cu-based functional materials are excellent candidates for the elimination of iodine anions. However, the low utilization rate of Cu and its unsatisfactory adsorption performance limit its large-scale practical applications. This paper proposes a co-gelation method to obtain Cu/Al₂O₃ aerogels with a high specific area (537 m²/g). Cu/Al₂O₃ aerogels have a hierarchical porous structure and contain a high proportion of Cu (20.5 wt%). The high dispersibility of Cu, which is based on an in-situ gel process, provides conditions for the high-efficiency elimination of iodide anions. We conducted adsorption experiments that demonstrated that the fabricated Cu/Al₂O₃ aerogel had an ultrahigh adsorption capacity (407.6 mg/g) and a fast adsorption equilibrium time (0.5 h) for iodide anions. Additionally, the Cu/Al₂O₃ aerogel could selectively capture iodine anions even in the presence of high concentrations of competing ions (NO₃^-, SO₄^2-, and Cl^- at 60 mmol/L). Importantly, the aerogel can operate in a wide pH range of 3-11 without causing secondary pollution. This work demonstrates that low-cost Cu/Al₂O₃ aerogels exhibit great potential for eliminating radioactive iodine anions.

Keywords: Aerogel; Al(2)O(3); Cu; Fast adsorption; Iodide anions.