Dry-column Vacuum Chromatographic Removal of Hg2+ from Wastewater Based on an Acridino-crown Ether-modified Spherical Silica Gel Adsorbent
Authors
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Panna Vezse
Affiliation
Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
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János Attila Kalóczkai
Affiliation
Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
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Dániel Ster
Affiliation
Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
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László Bezúr
Affiliation
Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
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Ádám Golcs
AffiliationDepartment of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
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Péter Huszthy
Affiliation
Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
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Tünde Tóth
Affiliation
Department of Organic Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Műegyetem rkp. 3., H-1111 Budapest, Hungary
Institute for Energy Security and Environmental Safety, Centre for Energy Research, Konkoly-Thege Miklós út 29–33., H-1121 Budapest, Hungary
Abstract
Dry-column vacuum chromatographic technique is introduced for remediation of wastewater for the first time. A previously prepared chemically modified silica gel containing covalently immobilized Hg2+-selective acridino-crown ether selector molecules was used as an adsorbent. Removal of Hg2+ from highly contaminated river water was carried out to study practical applicability. Adsorption capacity, preconcentration factor, pH-sensitivity and selectivity in separation were determined. The adsorbent proved to be outstanding in selectivity, only Ag+ and Cu2+ interfered among 29 cations, was inert toward organic contaminants, exhibited regenerability and pH-independency between 3.0 ≤ pH ≤ 7.0. The proposed method showed a moderate efficiency in both adsorption (32 mg Hg2+ / 1 g adsorbent) and preconcentration (preconcentration factor of 100). A maximum 10 L of wastewater / 1 g adsorbent ratio is recommended as an upper limit for applicability. The described method showed a unique robustness and simplicity compared to conventional ion-chromatographic methods and an improved selectivity over physical interaction- or simple functional group-based adsorptions.
Keywords:
mercury, wastewater, remediation, chromatography, molecular recognitionCitation data from Crossref and Scopus
