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This study is aimed to synthesize, characterize and validate the performance of a novel hybrid nanoadsorbent for selective removal of lead from a battery manufacturing wastewater. The hybrid nanosorbent, named as HCIX-Fe, was prepared by impregnating hydrated Fe (III) oxide (HFO) nanoparticles inside polymeric cation exchange resin containing negatively charged sulfonic acid (-SO3-) fixed functional groups. HCIX-Fe was characterized by SEM-EDX and XRD to confirm the distribution and determination of phase of HFO dispersed inside the hybrid nanosorbent. Fixed-bed column runs with HCIX-Fe beads were carried out using wastewater from a battery manufacturing plant. The wastewater had a pH of 1.8 and contained of 3.5 mg/L of Pb2+ coexisted with 250 mg/L Ca2+ ions. The results have shown that HCIX-Fe column could treat lead-contaminated water up to 6,500 bed volumes (BVs) before the occurrence of breakthrough concentration of 0.2 mg/L Pb2+ resulting in a removal capacity of 6.85 mg Pb2+/ml of the HCIX-Fe bed. Under similar condition, adsorbent columns with cation exchange resin (C100), granulated activated carbon (GAC) and granulated activated carbon impregnated with HFO (GAC-Fe), could treat the same wastewater only until 400, 900 and 1,500 BVs, respectively. When compared with the parent adsorbents, impregnation by HFO greatly enhanced the Pb2+ removal capacity of C100 and GAC by 1,625% and 167%, respectively. Both HFO and high density of sulfonic acid (-SO3-) in the host cation exchanger are individually capable of selective removal of Pb2+ ions; however the hybrid material demonstrated a synergistic effect for Pb2+ removal through the Donnan Membrane effect. Due to amphoteric behavior of HFO, the HCIX-Fe could be regenerated and reused with 10 BVs of 2% HNO3 and 1% FeCl3·6H2O solution.

Ferric oxide nanoparticles are environmentally benign and can be selective toward lead, especially in neutral to mildly alkaline pH of groundwater. However, due to very fine particles and low mechanical strength, it prevents these materials to apply in point of use filter or large scale fixed-bed adsorption. In this study, polymeric gel cation exchanger, Purolite C100, supported ferric oxide nanoparticles, C100-Fe, was synthesized, characterized, and tested with challenging water according to NSF standards 53. From SEM-EDX studies, it can imply that high concentration of iron can be doped and distributed within the gel phase structure of the C100 approximately 22% by mass. The TEM micrographs confirm the size of hydrated ferric oxide fall into the nanometer range about 10-60 mm. The fixed-bed adsorption experiments demonstrated that C100-Fe can remove lead below the stringent standard of 0.05 mg/L up to 15,000 BVs, whereas the GAC, GAC-Fe, and C100 can treat the same test water only 1200, 1700, and 3500 BVs, respectively. The results confirm that C100-Fe can be efficiently substituted to the traditional GAC for lead removal in drinking water.