Triethylenetetramine functionalized tannic acid/sodium alginate composite aerogel and its adsorption performance of...

Heavy metal pollution in water could lead to a major hazard to human health and environmental integrity, which necessitates the urgent development of effective remediation strategies for removing poisonous heavy metals from wastewater. A new dual-network aerogel adsorbent (STT) was fabricated using modified tannic acid (TA) and sodium alginate (SA) to remove Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ from water. The influence of various factors on the adsorption process of STT was investigated. Results indicated that, compared with calcium alginate (CA) aerogel, the mechanical property of STT aerogel was enhanced to 14.0 kg·cm^-2. The maximum capacities of adsorption for Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ could reach 304.30 mg·g^-1 and 422.80 mg·g^-1, respectively. After 10 regeneration cycles, STT maintained the adsorption rates of 84.58 % for Cu²⁺ and 87.89 % for Pb²⁺. Analysis of kinetic, thermodynamic, and isothermal adsorption models suggested that the adsorption mechanism involved a spontaneous monolayer chemisorption process. The adsorption mechanism of STT was investigated using XPS and FT-IR, illustrating the adsorption of Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ by STT occurred through ion exchange and complexation processes. The STT adsorbent, in general, demonstrated promising potential as a heavy metal adsorbent.