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Regeneration of spent TiO2 nanoparticles for Pb (II), Cu (II), and Zn (II) removal

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Abstract

Spent sorbents in water treatment processes have potential risks to the environment if released without proper treatment. The aim of this work was to investigate the potential regeneration of commercially prepared nano-TiO2 (anatase) for the removal of Pb (II), Cu (II), and Zn (II) by pH 2 and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) solutions. The percent of metal adsorption/desorption decreased with the increasing number of regeneration cycles, and the extent of decrease varied for each metal. Competitive effects were observed for the adsorption/desorption of different metals when the nano-TiO2 was regenerated by EDTA solutions. Nano-TiO2 was able to treat simulated metal polluted water with greater than 94 % adsorption and greater than 92 % desorption after four cycles of regeneration using pH 2 solution. These results demonstrated that nano-TiO2 can be regenerated and reused using pH 2 solution compared to an EDTA solution for aquatic metal removal, which makes nanosorbents promising and economically and environmentally more attractive in the application of water purification.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge financial support from the National Science Foundation through the Broadening Participation Research Initiation Grants in Engineering (EEC-0823685) and the Civil and Environmental Engineering Program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio, One UTSA Circle, San Antonio, 78249, TX, USA

    Jinxuan Hu & Heather J. Shipley

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  1. Jinxuan Hu
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  2. Heather J. Shipley
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Correspondence to Jinxuan Hu.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Hu, J., Shipley, H.J. Regeneration of spent TiO2 nanoparticles for Pb (II), Cu (II), and Zn (II) removal. Environ Sci Pollut Res 20, 5125–5137 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1502-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-1502-7

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