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Highly reusable bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 nanocomposite for Hg(II) removal from synthetic and real wastewater

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Abstract

The present research investigates the performance of bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 nanocomposite in removing mercury ions (Hg2+) from aqueous media. The physical and structural properties of bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 were determined using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), vibrating-sample magnetometer (VSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and Raman analyses. The highest uptake efficiency of Hg2+ was obtained at pH 6, Hg2+ concentration of 10 mg/L, contact time of 80 min, and the composite dose of 1.5 g/L. Under these conditions, the uptake efficiency of bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 and bentonite clay was obtained as 98.78% and 97.67%, respectively, which are remarkable values. Also, the qmax values in Hg2+ removal using bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 and bentonite clay were obtained as 66.66 and 60.98 mg/g, respectively. Moreover, the uptake process of Hg2+ ions using bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 nanocomposite and bentonite was spontaneous, physical, favorable, and exothermic. Besides, the impact of various divalent ions such as Co2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+ on the removal efficiency of Hg2+ was studied. The results showed that Co2+ and Zn2+ ions have the highest and lowest interference effect in Hg2+ removal, respectively. Also, the reusability of both adsorbents showed that they have high stability and can be used for at least 5 cycles with high uptake efficiency. Additionally, the removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), Hg2+, As3+, and As5+ from real wastewater using bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 was obtained as 37.5%, 28.9%, 65%, 60.5%, and 50%, respectively, indicating its remarkable performance.

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Acknowledgment

Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2023R303), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, 5, Riyadh, 11421, Saudi Arabia

    Abdulrhman Fahmi Alali, Sattam Fahad Almojil, Abdulaziz Ibrahim Almohana & Khaled Twfiq Almoalimi

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  1. Abdulrhman Fahmi Alali
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  2. Sattam Fahad Almojil
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  3. Abdulaziz Ibrahim Almohana
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Contributions

Abdulrhman Fahmi Alali: Data curation, conceptualization, methodology, software.

Sattam Fahad Almojil: Conceptualization, data curation, methodology.

Abdulaziz Ibrahim Almohana: Data curation, methodology, writing-review, validation.

Khaled Twfiq Almoalimi: Supervision, editing and rewriting, project administration.

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Correspondence to Sattam Fahad Almojil.

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Alali, A.F., Almojil, S.F., Almohana, A.I. et al. Highly reusable bentonite clay@biochar@Fe3O4 nanocomposite for Hg(II) removal from synthetic and real wastewater. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 72484–72502 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27401-7

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