Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), Climate Action (SDG 13)
Single source precursor based synthesis of iron sulfide-activated carbon nanocomposite for mercury removal from water Nathaniel N. Nubuor 1 , Michael B. Mensah 1* , Nathaniel O. Boadi 1 , David J. Lewis 2 , Johannes A. M. Awudza 1 1 Department of Chemistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. 2 Department of Materials, University of Manchester, UK. E-mail: michael.mensah@knust.edu.gh Water pollution by heavy metals such as mercury is a global menace imposing serious health effects on humans and their environment. In this work, iron sulfide-activated carbon nanocomposite was prepared by using a solventless thermolysis method to decompose iron (III) tris(diethyldithiocarbamate) single source precursor in activated carbon matrix for adsorption of mercury in water. The iron sulfide-activated carbon nanocomposite was characterized by using p-XRD and SEM/EDX techniques. The analysis confirmed the formation of a pyrrhotite phase and a worm-like nanoparticles of iron sulfide. The SEM/ EDX showed that the worm-like iron sulfide nanoparticles were integrated into the activated carbon matrix to form the iron sulfide-activated nanocomposite. The nanocomposite was applied for mercury adsorption from water and the maximum removal efficiency reached >90 % with an adsorption capacity of 529 mg/g. The adsorption process was best fitted by the Freundlich, pseudo-second order and the intra-particle diffusion models. The results showed stabilizing iron sulfides nanoparticles in activated carbon through solventless thermolysis of a single-source precursor produced an efficient nanocomposite with high potential for the removal of mercury from water, contributing to achieving of UN SDG goal 6 on clean water and sanitation. Key words: Water pollution, single source precursor, iron sulfide nanocomposite, activated carbon, mercury adsorption References 1. Mensah, M. B., Lewis, D. J., Boadi, N. O. & Awudza, J. A. M. (2021). Heavy metal pollution and the role of inorganic nanomaterials in environmental remediation. R Soc Open Sci, 8, 201485 2. Kpan, J. D. A., Opoku, B. K. & Gloria, A. (2014). Heavy Metal Pollution in Soil and Water in Some Selected Towns in Dunkwa- on-Offin District in the Central Region of Ghana as a Result of Small-Scale Gold Mining. Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment , 03, 40-47 3. O’Brien, P. & Nomura, R. (1995). Single-molecule Precursor Chemistry for the Deposition of Chalcogenide (S or Se)- containing Compound Semiconductors by MOCVD and Related Methods. J. Mater. Chem , 5, 1761-1773 4. Yadav, S., Yashas, S. R. & Shivaraju, H. P. (2021). Transitional metal chalcogenide nanostructures for remediation and energy: a review. Environmental Chemistry Letters , 19, 3683-3700
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