Cr( VI ), Pb( II ), Cd( II ) adsorption properties of nanostructured BiOBr microspheres and their application in a continuous filtering removal device for heavy metal ions

   In this paper, we adopt a simple hydrothermal route for the controllable synthesis of nanostructured bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) microspheres using Bi(NO 3 ) 3 $5H 2 O and hexadecyl-trimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as reactants in the presence of ethylene glycol (EG). The adsorption behaviour of the as-synthesized nanostructured BiOBr microspheres for Cr( VI ), Pb( II ) and Cd( II ) at low concentrations was systematically investigated. A continuous ltering adsorption device with a rapid and high adsorption performance for different heavy metal ions was designed and built by using as-synthesized nanostructured BiOBr microspheres as the ltration adsorbents in order to demonstrate a continuous heavy metal ion removal process in drinking water purication.

   BiOBr nanomaterials with a 3D hierarchical structure were successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method in the presence of PVP and EG. The synthesized nanostructured BiOBr microspheres possess large BET surface areas, quick and excellent removal capacities for toxic heavy metal ions, i.e. Cr( VI ), Cd( II ) and Pb( II ), especially for drinking-water purication at low concentration by continuous ltering adsorption. Consequently, hierarchical BiOBr nanostructures prove to be attractive adsorbents for removing heavy metal ions from water and for drinking-water purication.

DOI: 10.1039/c3ta14519k