Removal of Lead from Aquatic Solution Using Synthesized Iron Nanoparticles

Due to its ability in chemical oxidation of contaminants, iron nanoparticle is a material of choice to remove lead ions from aquatic solutions. In this study a reduction method in solution phase was applied to synthesize thenanoparticles. Afterwards, the size of the synthesized particles were confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy. It is worth noting that the nanoparticle dose-variations were examined in the range of 0.02-0.5mg while pH and exposure time were respectively investigated in the ranges of 3-11 and 1-40 min. Meanwhile, the removal efficiency of various concentrations of lead ions were evaluated in the range of 1-50 mg/l. The results indicated that the best removal efficiency (92.5%) occurred in the concentration range of 1 to 40 mg/l for a dose of 0.1 mg nanoparticles. By increasing concentration of lead ions to 50 mg/l, the optimum dose was achieved in 0.2 mg. Improved removal was observed with increasing exposure time up to 10 minutes while no improvement was recorded for exposure times of 20 minutes or longer. The results confirmed the effectiveness of synthesized iron nanoparticles in removing lead ions from aquatic solution.