Cellulose Nanofibers@ZrO₂ membrane for the separation of Hg(II) from aqueous media

The zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) nanoparticles were hydrothermally functionalized with aminophosphonic acid and decorated onto the surface of cellulose nanofibers membrane. The developed membrane was shown to extract and preconcentrates trace Hg(II) from aqueous medium selectively. The anchoring of ZrO₂ onto cellulose fibers reduces the loss of ZrO₂ particles, when use directly in column, during flow-through experiments. The Lewis soft-soft acid base electrostatic attraction of Hg(II) with the phosphonic groups of the adsorbent is a primary factor for selective Hg(II) adsorption. The experimental findings revealed a high Hg(II) sorption capacity of 180.5 mg g⁻¹. The suggested method's detection and quantification limits were determined to be 0.05 μg L⁻¹ and 0.20 μg L⁻¹, respectively. Analysis of Standard Reference Material provides method accuracy and validity (recovery >95% with <5% RSD). Student's t-test results was observed smaller than the crucial Student's t value. The devised approach was used successfully to analyse real water samples.