The Application of Nanoparticles Made from Aluminium Foil Waste in Remediating Boron from Desalinated Water

Abstract

Desalination is a method used to eradicate several salts and minerals so that their concentrations can fall in the acceptable range. Boron is a widely known drinking water contaminant and is broadly dispersed in the ecosystem, from biological or anthropogenic sources, which is why it is significant to remove before reusing the water, as it can have adverse effects on plants and animals. Due to the challenges involved in the removal of boron by desalination, there has been an integration of technologies to increase the removal rate. In this study, boron removal using Aluminium oxide nanoparticles synthesized from Aluminium foil waste was investigated, which is considered an environmentally friendly, cost-effective method, to reduce boron concentrations in desalinated water. Furthermore, the removal was examined at different pH values, initial boron concentration, temperature, and contact time for optimum values. The effect of pH on adsorption showed that the highest adsorption occurred at a higher pH of 10 and temperature variations showed no effect on the adsorption of the nanoparticles. The results were further analysed and compared using Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Radushkevich adsorption isotherms and kinetic studies. The adsorption isotherms were best fitted to the Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity was 344.8 mg/g at room temperature, while the adsorption kinetics were adequately explained by the pseudo-second order kinetic equation with correlation coefficient (R2 : 0.99).