Macroporous calcium alginate aerogel as sorbent for Pb2+ removal from water media

Abstract A low-cost and environmentally friendly calcium alginate aerogel (CAA) was prepared by freeze-drying method, characterized, and evaluated for removal of Pb 2+ from water. Experimental results indicate that the CAA shows high selectivity and adsorption capacity for Pb 2+ . Relative selectivity coefficients for Pb 2+ over other metal ions are all over 10. The CAA can also adsorb 96.4% of Pb 2+ in aqueous solution. The maximum adsorption capacity of CAA for Pb 2+ is 390.7 mg/g, which is higher than that of other reported adsorbents. Moreover, the CAA can be regenerated by simple acid treatment and used repeatedly without loss in performance.