Premium
Trapping Ionic Mercury Using Different Adsorbents
Author(s) -
Ojedokun Adedamola Titi,
Oluwole Abraham Olusegun,
Bello Olugbenga Solomon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
clean – soil, air, water
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.444
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1863-0669
pISSN - 1863-0650
DOI - 10.1002/clen.201900356
Subject(s) - mercury (programming language) , effluent , adsorption , environmental science , wastewater , food chain , activated carbon , waste management , environmental chemistry , mercury pollution , pollution , chemistry , environmental engineering , ecology , computer science , engineering , biology , programming language , organic chemistry
Of recent, adsorption process has gained a lot of attention as a cheap and effective means of removing trace metals from wastewater prior to discharge into water bodies. Being flexible in design and operation, the process has enabled an optimal recovery of trace metals such that the treated effluents meet the desired standards for waste disposal. Mercury is a toxicant released into the environment from natural and anthropogenic sources. It is notorious for having an unusual tendency to bio‐accumulate and persist in the food chain. Presence of mercury in food, especially those of aquatic sources has drastic implications on human health. Therefore, efforts have been made to develop and optimize low‐cost activated carbon (AC) as adsorbents for scavenging mercury from aqueous effluents. Herein, how mercury accumulates across the food chain, its health implications, and the recent advancement in the use of low‐cost ACs as adsorbent for trapping mercury from wastewater are highlighted. Relationship between the mercury removal efficiency and the surface morphology of the adsorbents as well as the influence of prevailing experimental condition on the sorption process were addressed. Challenges and future prospects of the use of low‐cost adsorbents in addressing mercury pollution in the environment are discussed.