Aloe Vera leaf helps eliminate pollution

Iranian researchers used Aloe Vera leaf to synthesize a nanosorbent at the laboratorial scale to adsorb and eliminate heavy metal ions from aqueous media.

Taking into consideration the ever-increasing application of adsorption process in the elimination of environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, it is vital to select an appropriate sorbent from technical and economical points of view. Therefore, Aloe Vera leaf ash has been used in this research for the production of a magnetic nanosorbent to eliminate heavy metal ions, including copper, zinc, chrome and lead.

According to Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council (INIC), the nanosorbent was produced though a simple and cost-effective method. The nanosorbent can eliminate heavy metal ions from aqueous media with high efficiency and low side effects.

Particles of the sorbent were modified with iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles. The presence of these nanoparticles increases adsorption capacity through increasing oxygen containing groups on the surface. The magnetic nanoparticles can be separated from the media after the sorption process in order to be used again. Therefore, a decrease is observed in the adsorption process.

Results showed that the optimum amount of sorption has been 333, 345, 71.4, and 333 mg/g for lead, copper, zinc, and chrome oxides, respectively.

Results of the research have been published in Desalination and Water Treatment, vol. 57, issue 29, 2016, pp. 13747-13759.
Source: mehrnews.com