title: Effective removal of zinc (II) from aqueous solutions by tricalcium aluminate (C₃A).
abstract: Recently, studies have identified high zinc levels in various environmental resources, and excessive intake of zinc has long been considered to be harmful to human health. The aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) as a removal agent of zinc from aqueous solution. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) have been used to characterize such removal behavior. The effects of various factors such as pH influence, temperature and contact time were investigated. The adsorption capacity of C3A for Zn(2+) was computed to be up to 13.73 mmol g(-1), and the highest zinc removal capacity was obtained when the initial pH of Zn(NO3)2 solution was between 6.0 and 7.0, with temperature around 308 K. The XRD analysis showed that the resultant products were ZnAl-LDHs. Combined with the analysis of solution component, it was proved the existence of both precipitation and cation exchange in the removal process. From the experimental results, it was clear that C3A could be potentially used as a cost-effective material for the removal of zinc in aqueous environment.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China.
authors.forename: Tianqi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China. Electronic address: bihe0723@163.com.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China.
authors.forename: Daishe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Poyang Lake Environment and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China.
authors.forename: Mingzhe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Qiyang Environmental Protection Agency, Yongzhou 426100, China.
authors.forename: Yuheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Chemistry Discipline, Faculty of Science and Technology, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia. Electronic address: r.frost@qut.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ray L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Frost
keywords: Cation exchange; Precipitation; Removal; Tricalcium aluminate (C(3)A); Zinc