Abstract
The presence of heavy metals in drinking water or wastewater poses a serious threat to the ecosystem. Hence, the present study focused on synthesizing SnCaAl2O3 core-shell nanoparticles (C.N.P.s) in the alpha-Alumina phase by thermal annealing a stacked structure sandwiched between two Al2O3 layers at low temperatures. The obtained structure showed Sn N.P. floating gate with an Al2O3 dielectric stacked tunneling barrier to remove the excess of these heavy metals from polluted water. To characterize the prepared composites, X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) were used. The synthesized SnCaAl2O3 C.N.P.s composite was examined to utilize it as an adsorbent for removing Zn, Cd, and Pb divalent cations. The removal efficiency was studied by various parameters such as adsorbent dose, pH, contact time, metal concentrations, temperature, and coexisting ions. The experimental results were tested via Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The obtained results were convenient to the Freundlich isotherm model. Moreover, the adsorption thermodynamic behavior of Zn+2, Cd+2, and Pb+2 on the synthesized composite was examined, and the process is endothermic and spontaneous under experimental conditions. The results illustrated that the adsorption efficiency of the SnCaAl2O3 core-shell nanoparticles (C.N.P.s) ranged from 88% to about 100% for all cations.