Nanoclay for the Removal of Heavy Metals (Lead and Zinc) from Aqueous Solutions

Water lackage, irregular and wrong usage of water resources, and their pollution in Arid and semi-arid zones is a serious threat for sustainable development and environmental protection. sustainable development and humanity life continuance is relevant to environmental and natural sources preservation. We have assessed the capacity of montmorillonite nanoclay to uptake heavy metals from (such as zinc and lead) aqueous solutions, industrial wastewater effluent and landfill bottoms. The data of adsorption in aqueous solutions were fitted to the linear model: q (g/kg) = A*C(mg/L)+B where A and B are found for each material experimentally. Batch experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of contact time and initial concentration on the zinc and lead sorption. The nanoclay effectively removed heavy metals from a wide range of concentrations at high solution/nanoclay ratios. The results were also analysed if they fit to Langmuir or Freundlich sorption Equations, too. This finding together with the low cost and environmentally friendly nature of nanoclay makes this material a superior candidate for the remediation of landfill leachates and treatment of water, metal-rich effluent and sewage. An added advantage is that nanoclay does not disperse in water, and hence can be recovered after use.

Keywords:

Nanoclays , Heavy Metals , Sorption , water and wastewater treatment