Effect of heavy metals on the stabilization of mercury(II) by DTCR in desulfurization solutions

Several heavy metals, including Cu(2+), Ni(2+), Pb(2+), and Zn(2+), were investigated in simulated desulfurization solutions to evaluate their interferences with Hg(2+) during the reaction with dithiocarbamate type chelating resin (DTCR). Appropriate DTCR dosage and the effect of pH were also explored with respect to restoration of high Hg(2+) precipitation efficiency and reduction of mercury concentrations. The experimental results suggested that increasing heavy metal concentration inhibited Hg(2+) precipitation efficiency to a considerable extent and the inhibition order of the four heavy metals was Cu(2+)>Ni(2+)>Pb(2+)>Zn(2+). However, the coordination ability was closely related to the configuration and the orbital hybridization of each metal. In the cases of Cu(2+) and Pb(2+), increased DTCR dosage was beneficial to Hg(2+) precipitation, which could lay the foundation of practical applications of DTCR dosage for industrial wastewater treatment. The enhanced Hg(2+) precipitation performance seen for increasing pH might have come from the deprotonation of sulfur atoms on the DTCR functional groups and the formation of metal hydroxides (M(OH)(2), M=Cu, Pb, Hg).