Synthesis and characterization of ceramic sponges for the remotion of Pb(II) from water

D. TORRES; J. VILLARROEL; K. SAPAG

San Pedro

Simposio; Fifth San Luis Symposium on Surfaces, Interfaces and Catalysis; 2010

Some low-cost materials, like clays, in particular bentonites, are widely utilized for the environmental remediation of heavy metals. Several methods are succesfully applied to remove heavy metals from aqueous solutions. However, their effectivity is not always adequate and the processes are not easy to follow. Moreover, in general, the aqueous volumes under study are high and the saturated material should easily be removed from the solution. Among the most hazardous heavy metals is the Pb(II), which should be almost completely eliminated, specially from potable water. In low concentrations, adsorption processes play an important role, where the main interest is the search for new adsorbents, in particular, low-cost materials and easy to remove from aqueous media. In this work, it is studied the synthesis, characterization and application of new ceramic adsorbents from bentonites and polymeric sponges, called ceramic sponges, in the remotion of Pb(II) from solutions. These adsorbents were synthezised at different temperatures and characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, mercury porosimetry and thermal analysis, and tested in the Pb(II) remotion. The textural and structural information of the adsorbents was correlated with the capacity to remove Pb(II) shown in the adsorption isotherms. It is also introduced the pH effect in the Pb(II) removal capacity.