Archana and Shaili Srivastava
Abstract
Calcium Oxide nanoparticles (CaONPs) and Alumina nanoparticles (Al2O3 NPs) were synthesized by solgel process to evaluate the feasibility of Ni (II) removal from wastewater. CaONPs were successfully synthesized from waste eggshells. The nature and morphology of the prepared material were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Diffraction Light Scattering (DLS). Inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) was used to monitor the amount of Ni (II) ions in the aqueous solutions. Batch studies were performed to assess the effect of pH, time, and adsorbent dose on the adsorption efficiency of the nanoparticles for Ni (II) removal from its aqueous solution. A poor removal efficiency was observed with Al2O3 NPs as compared to CaONPs. Even a small dose of 1gl-1 of CaONP showed 98.6% removal of Ni (II) ions after 60 minutes of exposure when the pH of the sample was maintained at 8. As a result of its strong adsorption ability, CaONP is a viable option for removing Ni (II) ions from water samples.