article · Environmental Advances
Mining activities frequently release hazardous heavy metals such as chromium and lead into surrounding water systems. To tackle this, an eco-friendly nanocomposite was developed by combining magnesium oxide nanoparticles, synthesised using Moringa oleifera leaf extract, with rice husk ash. The resulting material possessed a porous, dispersed structure with a higher surface area than either individual component. When tested in batch adsorption trials, the nanocomposite demonstrated strong performance, removing up to 79.20 percent of hexavalent chromium and 96.02 percent of lead ions. The capture of these metals occurred through a spontaneous, endothermic chemisorption process that aligned with standard Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Overall, incorporating green-synthesised magnesium oxide nanoparticles onto agricultural waste ash provides a more effective adsorbent than plain rice husk ash for treating contaminated mining wastewater.
Contamination of water by toxic heavy metals like lead and chromium poses severe environmental and health risks near industrial operations. Utilising common agricultural residues, such as rice husk ash, alongside green nanoparticle synthesis offers an environmentally benign way to clean industrial effluent. This approach provides an effective method for reducing toxic pollution without relying on hazardous synthesis chemicals.
This work points towards applications in industrial wastewater treatment, particularly for mining operations dealing with toxic metal effluent. Potential users include water remediation facilities and mining companies seeking bio-based filtration materials. The technology remains at an early, laboratory-tested stage, having been evaluated strictly in batch experimental trials, so scaling and continuous-flow performance are not yet established.
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This study explored the effective adsorptive performance of magnesium oxide (MgO) nanoparticles incorporated rice husk ash (RHA) to address the removal of Chromium (VI) and Lead (II) from mining wastewater from aqueous environment. MgO nanoparticles were synthesized using a magnesium salt precursor and moringa oleifera leaf extract and then impregnated onto RHA to create MgO-RHA nano composite. Different analytical techniques were employed to characterize the RHA and MgO-RHA nanocomposites. The prepared adsorbents were used in batch adsorptive studies and the concentrations of the metal ions were measured before and after treatment using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Morphological analysis confirmed that the adsorbents developed exhibited a dispersed and porous nature. BET analysis revealed that RHA, MgO, and MgO-RHA had surface areas of 93.04, 32.02, and 102.71 m2/g, respectively. MgO-RHA outperforms RHA in removing metal ions due to its increased surface area and functionality. MgO-RHA demonstrated higher removal percentages of up to 79.20 % and 96.02 % for Cr(VI) and Pb(II), respectively. The Pseudo-second order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm demonstrated the highest degree of conformity to the experimental data, considering the coefficient of determination (R2), smallest value of SSE and chi-square (ᵪ2). Thermodynamic results indicated that the adsorption process was characterized by endothermicity, spontaneity and chemisorption controlled. In summary, the performance of the MgO-RHA nanocomposite surpassed that of RHA alone, which serves as a better adsorbent for metal ion removal.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.envadv.2024.100507
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