Coal fly ash coated with carbon hybrid nanocomposite for remediation of cadmium (II) and photocatalytic application of the spent adsorbent for reuse

Abstract

In this study, coal fly ash coated with a carbon hybrid nanocomposite (CFA/C HNCPs) was synthesised using a hydrothermal method and applied for the adsorption of cadmium ions (Cd2+) from aqueous solution. The possibility of reusing the spent adsorbent (Cd2+ loaded adsorbent referred to CFA/C–Cd2+ HNCPs) for the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue dye (MB) was also investigated. CFA/C HNCPs exhibited rapid adsorption of Cd2+ ions through a pseudo second order kinetics model whereas the data was well fitted by the Langmuir Isotherm model. In addition, the Cd2+ loaded spent adsorbent played an important role for the photocatalytic degradation of MB with a percentage degradation of 97.41%. Interestingly, this is a new approach for the reuse of Cd2+ adsorbed material for photocatalytic application, which has significant environmental impact for reduction of waste derived from conventional adsorption techniques.

Keywords

• Coal flyash
• Carbon hybrid nanocomposite
• Cadmium
• Adsorption
• Photocatalytic reuse