Mercury Removal from Aqueous Systems Using Commercial and Laboratory Prepared Metal Oxide Nanoparticles

Five commercial metal oxide nanoparticles (CuO, SiO2, Fe2O3, TiO2 and Al2O3) have been individually screened for mercury removal in a batch reactor under bicarbonate buffered and non-buffered aqueous solutions (DI water). Copper oxide was then selected for surface modification to enhance mercury removal. The surfaces of both laboratory prepared and commercially available copper oxide nanoparticles were treated with 1-octanethiol to produce copper sulfide and/or copper alkanethiol nanoparticles. The resulting particles were characterized using X-Ray Fluorescence(XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The novel nanoparticles demonstrated very high mercury removal (> 99%) from both the buffered and non-buffered aqueous solutions.