Enhance the removal and immobilization of Cd(II) by the synthesis in situ of dithiocarbamate-geopolymer microsphere composite

In this study, slag-based geopolymer microspheres (SGS) were combined with dithiocarbamate (DTC) to synthesize the composite adsorbent of SGS and DTC in situ (SGS-DTC). Synthesis was carried out with optimal dosages of 10 mL of EDA, 1.0 g of SGS, and 20 mL of CS2. The differences in material properties, performance, and mechanisms in the adsorption and immobilization of toxic Cd(II) in water between SGS and SGS-DTC were investigated. SGS-DTC showed better adsorption performance than SGS, irrespective of adsorbent dosage, pH, original content, and contact duration. Although after the Cd(II) adsorption, the immobilization performance at a different pH was better in the SGS-DTC than in the SGS, the immobilization performance was unaffected by changes in the other factors. For static adsorption, the adsorption rate of SGS-DTC (1.5 h) was faster than that of SGS (6 h); the Cd(II) adsorption capacity of SGS-DTC (211.2 mg/g) was almost twice that of SGS (116.7 mg/g), and correspondingly, the removal rate of SGS-DTC (99.75%) was nearly twice that of SGS (53.2%). For dynamic adsorption, the adsorption capacity of SGS-DTC was 389.78 mg/g, which is considerably higher than that of SGS (293.38 mg/g) in the Cd(II) solution prepared with deionized water. Furthermore, the adsorption capacity of the SGS-DTC was 299.26 mg/g, which is significantly higher than that of SGS (150.03 mg/g) in the Cd(II) solution prepared by the river water from Yongjiang, Nanning, Guangxi, China. One reason is that DTC was able to activate Si-O-Si without adsorption performance within SGS, thereby improving its adsorption and purification properties significantly. The other reason is that, after anchoring DTC on SGS, the specific surface area varied from 34.05-146.47 m2/g, the morphology was smooth-leaf-like, the pore volume was 0.13-0.20 cm3/g, and the pore size in SGS, was 14.75-5.60 nm. The high potential of SGS-DTC in removing and immobilizing heavy metal materials in wastewater is demonstrated in the results.