Studies on synthesis of carbon nanotubes doped polymeric nanocomposites for the removal of heavy metal ions in aqueous media

Abstract

Water is vital resource for drinking, irrigation and various industrial processes Water pollution by heavy metal ions has been one of the challenges in the control of environmental pollution universally Population expansion and increased industrialization have contributed to the release of increased heavy trace metal ion contaminants to wastewater effluents and surrounding soils Heavy metals discharged in wastewaters induce toxic effect to aquatic life and cause natural water to be unfit for potable water sources The major source of heavy metal ions is usually the wastewaters from various industries such as chemical manufacturing electroplating mining electric device manufacturing and metal finishing etc In addition human activities have also contributed to environmental deterioration Heavy metal ions are toxic non biodegradable and highly carcinogenic They are often harmful to the environment and dangerous to plants animals and the human beings Since the heavy metal ion are non biodegradable and undergoes transformation they have a tendency to bio accumulate in food chain Hence to overcome these drawbacks the development of removal of heavy metals from wastewater and soils are thus encouraged newlineHence technologies which would produce maximum positive outcome such as selective separation and effective removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters are of great practical and research interest Numerous conventional methods such as chemical precipitation coagulation solvent extraction ion exchange adsorption and reverse osmosis are available for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater newline newline