Heavy metals including chromium (Cr), copper (Cu) and nickel (Ni) are emerging environmental contaminants with considerable health hazards in humans. Several chelators have been well developed for heavy metal remediation. However, most of these chalators suffer from low remediation efficiency, low selectivity, and/or poor solubility in aqueous and organic solvents, limiting their practical application. This study investigated a comparative analysis of the use of unmodified kaolin, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) modified kaolin, and poly (sodium N-undecanoyl-sulfate) poly-SUS-modified kaolin for Cr, Cu, and Ni remediation. In addition, the influence of experimental factors on remediation abilities of SDS-modified kaolin or poly-SUS modified kaolin to achieve optimum Cr, Cu and Ni remediation was investigated. The results of the remediation efficiency obtained in this study are not only metal specific, but it also depends on the type of chelator employed for kaolin modification for remediation. In general, poly-SUS modified kaolin was observed to have a comparable or better remediation capability for the investigated heavy metals than the corresponding SDS-modified-kaolin. Overall, the result of Cr, Cu, and Ni remediation using poly-SUS modified kaolin obtained in this study is promising with practical field and environmental remediation of contaminated sites.

Remediation of chromium, copper, and nickel using SDS and Poly SUS-modified kaolin

244th National Meeting (2012)

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