Enhanced Adsorption of Mercury and Methylene Blue Using Silver and Surface Modified Zeolite-NaX Derived from Rice Husk
Abstract
This study presents the synthesis of zeolite-NaX from rice husk by hydrothermal method. The synthesized material exhibited the formation of zeolite-NaX as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The substance was subjected to further modifications through the silver (Ag0) nanoparticles and surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to further investigate the adsorption properties of mercury and dyes in water. As a result of the ion exchange reaction and reduction by silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), the particle size was 15-16.4nm. Cationic methylene blue and mercury ion (Hg2+) adsorption onto unmodified and modified zeolites was studied using a batch equilibration method. The sorbent modified with silver nanoparticles was investigated for its ability to purify water from mercury ions (Hg2+), resulting in an increased sorption capacity from qmax = 136.9 to 285.7 mg g-1. The possibility of removing dyes from an aqueous medium at a neutral pH was also studied. The sorption capacity increased from 9.21 to 13.48 mg g-1 when the sorbent was modified with SDS. During 24 hours, preliminary results showed that the removal of mercury ions from the solution ranged from 27 to 76% and the removal of methylene blue from 18 to 87% of the initial concentration.