Synergistic effect of nanoflower-like CdS for removal of highly toxic aqueous Cr(VI)

Abstract

Thiourea assisted hydrothermal preparation of nanoflower-like CdS (NFs) synthesis and its efficient performance to remove toxic Cr (VI) in aqueous solution has been reported in this article. CdS NFs show synergistic behaviour via photo-catalytic reduction and adsorption to remove the toxic Cr (VI) and reduce to non-toxic Cr (III) ionic state in the aqueous solution at the room temperature. The adsorption of Cr (VI) from the aqueous solution stable time was observed ~120 min at the pH of 2 having an adsorption efficiency of 92%. Various adsorptions of kinetic and isothermal models have been further applied to understand the adsorption mechanism. The pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir equilibrium adsorption isotherm model fitted best to describe Cr (VI) adsorption process. These results confirm the possibility of toxic Cr (VI) removal in water remediation without employing any costly noble metal-based catalyst.