Use of Nanoparticles for the Removal of Heavy Metals from Wastewater Collected from I-9 Sewage Treatment Plant (P-0791) (MFN 4873)

Abstract

Industrial effluents discharged into the environment pose a serious threat to agriculture and living organisms. Human health and aquatic environment are at a significant risk from excessive heavy metal exposure as it can easily build up in biological systems. In the present study, coated nanoparticles are synthesized and used for removal of selected metal ions from wastewater. Coated nanoparticles were given preference over single oxide nanoparticles because of their better adsorbing capacity as compared to parent particle. The synthesized coated nanoparticles were subjected to characterization techniques like X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis and Frontier Transform Infra-red Spectroscopy (FTIR). The nanoparticles were characterized before and after the adsorption studies. Industrial effluents discharged into the environment pose a serious threat to agricultural products and living organisms. In view of toxic levels of heavy metals, we have selected Lead (Pb II), Cadmium (Cd II) and Chromium (Cr VI). The water samples have been collected from I-9 (Islamabad) waste water treatment plant. Heavy metal identification and assessment was done using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (FAAS). The results showed that the adsorptive properties were dependent on pH with respect to each nanoparticle.