Use of nano-/micro-magnetite for abatement of cadmium and lead contamination

Zeeshan Ajmal; Muhammad Usman; Ioannis Anastopoulos; Abdul Qadeer; Runliang Zhu; Abdul Wakeel; Renjie Dong

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110477

Use of nano-/micro-magnetite for abatement of cadmium and lead contamination

J Environ Manage. 2020 Jun 15:264:110477. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110477. Epub 2020 Mar 31.

Authors

Zeeshan Ajmal¹, Muhammad Usman², Ioannis Anastopoulos³, Abdul Qadeer⁴, Runliang Zhu⁵, Abdul Wakeel⁶, Renjie Dong⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan; MoA Key Laboratory for Clean Production and Utilization of Renewable Energy, MoST National Center for International Research of BioEnergy Science and Technology, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, 100083, Beijing, China.
² Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan; PEIE Research Chair of Public Establishment for Industrial Estates and Free Zones, Center for Environmental Studies and Research, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khoud 123, Muscat, Oman. Electronic address: muhammad.usman@squ.edu.om.
³ Radioanalytical and Environmental Chemistry Group, Department of Chemistry, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, Nicosia, CY-1678, Cyprus.
⁴ Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan; Key Laboratory of Geographic Information Science of the Ministry of Education, School of Geographical Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China.
⁵ Guangzhou Institutes of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 510640, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan.
⁷ MoA Key Laboratory for Clean Production and Utilization of Renewable Energy, MoST National Center for International Research of BioEnergy Science and Technology, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, 100083, Beijing, China.

PMID: 32250903
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110477

Abstract

Structural variations of a mineral dictate its adsorption capacity which affects the mobility and toxicity of contaminants in natural and engineered systems. Present batch study evaluates the adsorption of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) onto three magnetites having nanometric (M1-30 nm and M2-60 nm) and micrometric particle sizes (M3-1.5 μm). Obtained data revealed that particle size of tested magnetites strongly affected the extent and kinetics of metal adsorption and desorption. Observed order of adsorption efficiency was M1 > M2 > M3 with optimum monolayer adsorption of 408.14, 331.40, 178.47 mg/g (for Pb) and 228.05, 170.86, 83.49 mg/g (for Cd), respectively. Adsorption data were well fitted to the Freundlich (R² = 0.99), Langmuir (R² = 0.99) and pseudo-first order models (R² = 0.98). Electrostatic attraction and surface precipitation interaction via external mass transfer between bulk liquid-solid interfaces were the potential adsorption pathways. Pb showed higher affinity than Cd in multi-metal system. Desorption efficiency was higher in acidic environment (92%) than in distilled water (44%). Moreover, regenerated magnetite samples retained good adsorption capacity for six cycles. As soils are characterized by large variability of iron minerals, these findings have important implications regarding the transport and immobilization of contaminants particularly in the management of contaminated soils.

Keywords: Adsorption; Magnetite; Metal contamination; Metal immobilization; Nanotechnology; Soil remediation.

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Cadmium*
Ferrosoferric Oxide
Kinetics
Lead*
Soil

Substances

Soil
Cadmium
Lead
Ferrosoferric Oxide