Halloysite hybrids nanostructures used for copper ions removal from wastewater

Visan A, G.Paraschiv, C.Fleaca, C.I. Covaliu

Politehnica University of Bucharest, Faculty of Biotechnical Systems Engineering

Heavy metal water pollution is one of the biggest problems of our century. Therefore, technological innovation in the field of water treatment is important. Moreover, in recent years, numerous researches and experiments have been made with various pollutants like Cu (II), Pb (II), Cd (II), Mn (II), Cr (IV) in order to explore and find advanced technical solutions offered by nanotechnologies. [1][2]
Nanotechnology based adsorption has the most promising results and is the closest to achieving an efficiency of wastewater treatment that is commercially competitive. The adsorption on nanoparticles has several major advantages compared to conventional adsorption. They have a large specific surface area, applicable to various pollutants and high reactivity [3]. There are several nanomaterials used as adsorbents such as: carbon nanotubes, graphene, metal oxide and nanocomposites.
Halloysites nanotubes are widespread in nature, they form naturally, under specific geological conditions, especially due to the differences of oxygen present between the layers [4]. Due to their characteristics and structure, halloysite nanocomposites promise good results in wastewater treatment, with minimal impact on the environment. These types of nano hybrids are the subject of current presentation. In the experimental research have been used hybrids of halloysite and PANI polymer with 2 different ratio, both, obtaining the same efficiency of 65% during 540 min and 900 min. The results have been obtained using an initial pollutant concentration of 1.00 mg/L and an amount of adsorbent nanocomposite of 2.00 g/L.

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