Abstract
•The Cu/ZnO composite was fabricated through a facile sol-gel route.•The composite exhibited rapid adsorption rate (35min equilibrium) for Pb(II).•Cu/ZnO could effectively eliminate up to 1111mg.g−1 of Pb(II) from solution.
Cu/ZnO composite with surface area of 35.10m2/g and high adsorption capacity of lead ions was successfully prepared by a simple sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray and BET surface area studies outcome revealed the substitution of Cu into ZnO lattice with additional Cu-O phase. The average diameter of the composite was about16nm. The synthesized nanocomposites has a short adsorption equilibrium time of 35.0min as well as a superb efficiency for Pb(II) ions removal (1111.0mg.g−1).