Removal of Hg and Pb in aqueous solution using magnetite carbon dots nanocomposite

Abstract

Hg and Pb metals are major concerns because of their high degree of toxicity in public environment, which also pollute aquatic systems. Nanocomposite adsorbents have been developed for cleaning polluted water at low. The study aims to determine the removal efficiency of magnetite carbon dots nanocomposite in case of Hg and Pb in the aqueous solution. In this paper, magnetite carbon dots (symbolized as Fe3O4/CDs) nanocomposite was synthesized through a two-step process of co-precipitation and pyrolysis methods. The synthesized nanocomposite was analyzed using Utraviolet visible (UV-vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron electron microscopy (SEM), electron dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). According to the results, the synthesized (Fe3O4/CDs) nanocomposites were found to be 20 nm in diameter, superparamagnetic property, surface roughness and deformations, important functional groups, iron-rich nanocomposite and favorable removal efficiency for Hg (82.70 %) and Pb (72.91 %), respectively. Therefore, the results indicated that these Fe3O4/CDs nanocomposites are potentially attractive agents for the removal of heavy metals ions, especially Hg and Pb from industrial wastewater.

Keywords

• carbon dots
• heavy metals
• nanocomposite
• magnetic nanoparticles
• removal efficiency