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Removal of Cadmium from Contaminated Groundwater Using a Novel Silicon/Aluminum Nanomaterial: An Experimental Study

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Abstract

Cadmium (Cd) is a harmful element to human health and biodiversity. The removal of Cd from groundwater is of great significance to maintain the environmental sustainability and biodiversity. In this work, a novel low-temperature roasting associated with alkali was applied to synthesize an eco-friendly adsorbent using coal fly ash. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were applied to analyze the physical and chemical characteristics of the adsorbent. The experiments show that a significant improvement in specific surface area and activity of adsorbent was observed in this study. The functional groups of Na–O and Fe–O were verified to be beneficial in the removal of Cd2+. The material capacity to adsorb Cd2+ was considerably improved, and the maximum uptake capacity was 61.8 mg g−1 for Cd2+ at 25 °C. Furthermore, pH and ionic strength play critical roles in the adsorption process. The Langmuir and pseudo-second-order models can appropriately describe the adsorption behavior, and the enhanced adsorption ability of Cd2+ by modified coal fly ash was attributed to ion-exchange, co-precipitation, and complexation. Higher sorption efficiency was maintained after two regeneration cycles. These results offer valuable insights to develop high-performance adsorbent for Cd2+ removal.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41761144059 and 42072286), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of CHD (300102299301), the Fok Ying Tong Education Foundation (161098) and the Ten Thousand Talents Program (W03070125). The authors are grateful to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their useful comments, which helped to improve the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Hanghang Zhao, Fengmei Su, Yun Shen & Peiyue Li

  2. Key Laboratory of Subsurface Hydrology and Ecological Effects in Arid Region of the Ministry of Education, Chang’an University, No. 126 Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710054, Shaanxi, China

    Hanghang Zhao, Fengmei Su, Yun Shen & Peiyue Li

  3. School of Chemistry and Environmental Science, Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong, 723001, Shaanxi, China

    Fengmin Song

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  1. Hanghang Zhao
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Correspondence to Peiyue Li.

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Zhao, H., Song, F., Su, F. et al. Removal of Cadmium from Contaminated Groundwater Using a Novel Silicon/Aluminum Nanomaterial: An Experimental Study. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 80, 234–247 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-020-00784-1

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