Zirconium oxide with graphene oxide anchoring for improved heavy metal ions adsorption: Isotherm and kinetic study

Heavy metal contamination is a major environmental issue worldwide and a significant public health risk. However, developing environmentally sustainable and technically viable solutions or adsorbents for treating water contamination caused by heavy metals is ur-gently needed. In this work, an eco-friendly approach of obtaining a new composite ma-terial called ZrO2/GO that was prepared from the synthesized nano zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and graphene oxide (GO) prepared from spent carbon rods in zinc carbon batteries. ZrO2/ GO was analyzed by XRD, SEM, BET, EDX, and FTIR to learn more about its composition and structure. The batch approach determined the optimal sorption conditions, including pH4, 50 mg ZrO2/GO, 150 mg/L U(VI), and 50 min of sorption time. ZrO2/GO was found to have a 128 mg/g sorption capacity. The Langmuir and 2nd-order kinetic equations can be exploited to elucidate the adsorption approach with reasonable accuracy. Since sorption is exothermic when it occurs naturally, thermodynamic restrictions were also envisioned. ZrO2/GO retains over 92% heavy metal ions (VI) removal efficiency even after 7 cycles. ZrO2/GO shows assurance as a potent sorbent material to extract hexavalent heavy metal ions and adsorption capacity from massive solution volumes.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-NDlicense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

Heavy metal contamination is a global environmental issue with significant public health risks. This study introduces an eco-friendly approach of using a composite material called ZrO2/GO, obtained from synthesized nano zirconium oxide (ZrO2) and graphene oxide (GO) prepared from spent carbon rods, to address water contamination caused by heavy metals.