Development of Multifunctional Membranes for Visual Detection and Adsorptive Removal of Heavy Metal Ions from aqueous Solutions

Abstract

As a result of increased industrial and urban activities, the occurrence of heavy metal contaminants has been dramatically augmented. They are normally toxic, non-biodegradable and highly carcinogenic, thus posing a serious threat to the lives of human beings even at low concentrations. This necessitates the development of technologies that can effectively detect the presence of heavy metal contaminants as well as remove them from the contaminated waters.

In the present work, attempts were made to develop multifunctional membranes for visual detection and adsorptive removal of heavy metal ions in aqueous solutions. To achieve this, different types of optical indicators were immobilized onto chitosan/cellulose acetate (CS/CA) blend membranes. The prepared membranes showed good performance on both detection and removal of heavy metal ions in a wide variation of solution conditions. Therefore, it demonstrates a great potential to be applied for easy on-site and in situ remediation of heavy metal contaminations.