Student Name: MEGHA T.S
Guide Name: Prof. Indumathi M. Nambi, CE, IIT Madras & Dr. Suja R, Associate Professor & Co-ordinator, TPLC
Project Area: WASTE WATER TREATMENT
Year: 2020 , Duration: 1
Wastewater treatment and heavy metal pollution as a result of industrialization is a lingering problem. When heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc, contained in wastewater is discharged into rivers and trenches without proper treatment, it can lead to severe pollution, leading to environmental impacts on aquatic life, plants and ecology. Many heavy metals are biologically accumulated and cannot be easily decomposed, jeopardizing human health through the food chain. Sources of industrial wastewater containing heavy metals include complex organic chemicals, electric power plants, electronics manufacturing, electroplating, iron and steel, and mines and quarries.
The alarming results have driven scientific investigation towards chemical pathways for the sequestration of heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. A plethora of reports have come up on sequestration of heavy metals using high aspect ratio absorbents like activated carbon/bio-char/graphene hybrids. However, a multifunctional approach to heavy metal removal is still rather missing. Given this backdrop, a method that sequesters metals from water while producing an energy source (hydrogen) as a by-product, is of contemporary relevance. And this study aims at achieving the same goal.
Sequestration technologies yielding nanoparticles would be ideal since that would render the sequestered product deployable. In this context, research on aluminium nanoparticles (Al NPs) is particularly noteworthy. The attention Al NPs have received is due to their applications in energy conversion and other related fields. The heavy metal content is monitored using spectrophotometer at various stages of the sequestration process. And the amount of hydrogen produced is also quantified.
Keywords: Wastewater treatment, heavy metals, zero valent aluminium, hydrogen energy
