Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Based Nanoporous Carbon Nanocomposite for Effective Adsorption of Hg(II) Ions from Aqueous Suspensions

Abstract

Due to the release of hazardous heavy metals from various industries, water pollution has become one of the biggest challenges for environmental scientists today. Mercury Hg(II) is regarded as one of the most toxic heavy metals due to its ability to cause cancer and other health issues. In this study, a tailor-made modern eco-friendly molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP)/nanoporous carbon (NC) nanocomposite was synthesized and examined for the uptake of Hg(II) using an aqueous solution. The fabrication of the MIP/NC nanocomposite occurred via bulk polymerization involving the complexation of the template, followed by polymerization and, finally, template removal. Thus, the formed nanocomposite underwent characterizations that included morphological, thermal degradation, functional, and surface area analyses. The MIP/NC nanocomposite, with a high specific surface area of 884.9 m2/g, was evaluated for its efficacy towards the adsorptive elimination of Hg(II) against the pH solution changes, the dosage of adsorbent, initial concentration, and interaction time. The analysis showed that a maximum Hg(II) adsorption effectiveness of 116 mg/g was attained at pH 4, while the Freundlich model fitted the equilibrium sorption result and was aligned with pseudo-second-order kinetics. Likewise, thermodynamic parameters like enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs free energy indicated that the adsorption was consistent with spontaneous, favorable, and endothermic reactions. Furthermore, the adsorption efficiency of MIP/NC was also evaluated against a real sample of condensate from the oil and gas industry, showing an 87.4% recovery of Hg(II). Finally, the synthesized MIP/NC showed promise as a selective adsorbent of Hg(II) in polluted environments, suggesting that a variety of combined absorbents of different precursors is recommended to evaluate heavy metal and pharmaceutical removals.