Nanosorbents Increase Extraction, Recycling of Silver from Aqueous Solutions

Iranian Researchers from University of Tehran produced a new type of nanosorbent with the capability of increasing the extraction of silver from mines.

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2015-03-05

In addition to having high efficiency, the produced nanosorbent can be reused for a few times. The nanosorbent was produced through a simple, cost-efficient and eco-friendly method.

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Cellulose xanthate has numerous applications in various industries, among which mention can be made of its application in floating metals in the extracted mineral rocks. However, the cellulose has been used at micrometric scale. In order to increase the performance of the compound, the research led to the production of cellulose xanthate nanocomposite.

In this research, magnetic polymeric nanocomposite was produced through single-step method by using cellulose micropolymers. The addition of sulfur groups and reducing the dimensions of the polymeric composite from micro to nano resulted in an increase in the efficiency of the polymeric nanocomposite for the sorption of silver from acidic solutions. In addition, the magnetic properties facilitate the recycling of the sorbent at the end of the process.

Taking into consideration the fact that the produced magnetic nanocomposite is able to adsorb and pre-concentrate low amount of silver from complicated matrices, the application of nanocomposite was studied in this research in the solid phase extraction too. The obtained desirable results confirm that the nanocomposite can be used for the removal of biological pollutions in water purification processes.

Source: Nanotechnology Now