Researchers design nano primary battery system for remediating diverse heavy metal ions

A team led by Prof. WU Zhengyan and ZHANG Jia from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has synthesized a versatile, broad-spectrum Fe/Cu primary battery-based nanocomposite with photo-induced protonation effect to immobilize diverse heavy metal ions. This system has a large number of active sites, which makes it have a strong trapping and immobilization effect on Highly-stable heavy metal ions (HMIs).

The results were published in Journal of Hazardous Materials.

HMIs appear long-term damage, while the existing remediation strategies struggle to effectively remove a variety of oppositely charged HMIs without releasing toxic substances. To address this, researchers are constructing a primary battery-based nanocomposite, with photo-induced protonation effect, for effectively consolidating oppositely charged HMIs, which tackles an environmental application challenge.

In this research, the team fabricated a primary battery firstly, they then modified the graphite oxide (GO) with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and the photo-protonated molecule 2-nitrobenzaldehyde (2-NBA), fabricating a Fe/Cu primary battery-based nanocomposite (FCPBN) with photo-induced protonation effect. These formulations further enhance the adsorption of HMIs and proton-induced precipitation reactions.

Additionally, the FCPBN exhibits splendid removal performance on scavenging HMIs from water including Cr(VI), As(III), Cd(II), Pb(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) to trace levels, meeting the standards of drinking water in China (GB 5749-2022), also has a better remediation of Cr(VI)- and Cd(II)-contaminated soil collected from Chizhou, Anhui Province.

"This innovation approach could lead to more efficient and environment-friendly HMIs remediate in future, supporting sustainable environment development," said GE Hongjian, first author of the paper.

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