Mercury sorption by silica/carbon nanotubes and silica/activated carbon: a comparison study

Research Article| August 13 2015 Mercury sorption by silica/carbon nanotubes and silica/activated carbon: a comparison study Tawfik A. Saleh Tawfik A. Saleh 1Chemistry Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia E-mail: tawfikas@hotmail.com Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua (2015) 64 (8): 892–903. https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2015.050 Article history Received: April 10 2015 Accepted: July 06 2015 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Cite Icon Cite Permissions Search Site Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsThis Journal Search Advanced Search Citation Tawfik A. Saleh; Mercury sorption by silica/carbon nanotubes and silica/activated carbon: a comparison study. Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology-Aqua 9 December 2015; 64 (8): 892–903. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2015.050 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Nanocomposites of silica incorporated with carbon nanotubes (silica/CNT) and activated carbon (silica/AC) were synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), element mapping, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Silica/CNT and silica/AC were investigated for efficient removal of mercury ions from aqueous solutions. The adsorbents have been analyzed on the basis of adsorption capacity, reusability, and their application in packed columns. The effects of experimental parameters, like pH, contact time and initial concentrations on the adsorption of mercury ions, were optimized. The kinetic data for the adsorption process obeyed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model with R2 of 0.999. Fitting the data to an intraparticle diffusion model indicated that surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion were concurrently operating. In addition, this study used the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherms to describe the behaviour of equilibrium adsorption. The equilibrium adsorption of the studied mercury ions is best fitted using the Freundlich isotherm, with silica/CNT of higher capacity than silica/AC. The silica/CNT showed better performance than silica/AC indicating silica/CNT has better efficiency. adsorption, kinetics, mercury, nanocomposite © IWA Publishing 2015 You do not currently have access to this content.