Designing and Development of Nanosorbent Graphene Oxide/Eggshell Membrane for Removing Heavy Metals from Water Pollution

摘要

This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of graphene oxide doped eggshell membrane (GO/ESM) powder as a new adsorbent to remove heavy metal ions from drinking water pollutants. The discharge of large amount of heavy metals such as Pb and Zn from chemical industries are severely contaminating not only the aquatic environments but also all the living organisms and humans. Therefore, it is necessary to treat metal contaminated wastewater prior to its discharge to the environment. The efficiency of GO/ESM for removing Hg(II) and Pb(II) from drinking water samples was examined by anodic stripping voltammetry. Adsorption characteristics of these metal ions were studied and it was found to be well fitted by Langmuir binding isotherm. Graphene oxide nano-sheets immobilized on the eggshell membrane provide high surface to volume ratio increasing the adsorption efficiency of the ESM biopolymer. The adsorption data were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms and it was found that the Langmuir model is the best one describing the adsorption process. According to the adsorption isotherms examined, adsorptive capacities of GO/ESM were calculated as 54.83 and 25.13 mg g~(-1) for Hg(II) and Pb(II), respectively.