In-situ immobilization of CuMOF on sodium alginate/chitosan/cellulose nanofibril composite hydrogel for fast and highly efficient removal of Pb2+ from aqueous solutions

Lead is a toxic heavy metal that is highly harmful to humans. Developing fast, efficient, and separable materials to treat lead-contaminated wastewater is challenging. In this paper, Cu-based MOF composite (SCC-CuMOF) was prepared by in-situ growth method and used for the removal of Pb2+ from aqueous solutions. The obtained materials were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) mapping, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy (IR). The effects of pH, coexisting ions, contact time, initial ion concentration, and temperature on the removal of Pb2+ were investigated. SCC-CuMOF exhibited excellent adsorption performance on Pb2+. Adsorption of Pb2+ on SCC-CuMOF were in accordance with the pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir model. The adsorption thermodynamic study suggested that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. The results revealed that Pb2+ might be adsorbed onto SCC-CuMOF via ion exchange and coordination interaction. In general, SCC-CuMOF has the potential to remove Pb2+ from wastewater rapidly and efficiently.