Fabrication of Nanocomposite Adsorbent Based on Manganese Dioxide-loaded Zeolite for Enhanced Removal of Cadmium from Contaminated Water and Soil

In recent decades, the contamination of natural waters and soils with heavy metals has become a serious environmental problem. Cadmium is one of the most toxic elements for humans. Releases of cadmium into the environment from anthropogenic activities have severely affected water and soil quality and increased the risk of human exposure. Among the methods used to remove cadmium from wastewater and contaminated soils, in situ stabilization has proven to be the most effective and economical due to its simplicity, ease of operation and low cost. The paper presents the results of the synthesis of a composite material for the effective stabilization of Cd ions based on clinoptilolite tuff from the Sokyrnytsia deposit (Ukraine) loaded with manganese dioxide nanoparticles. The results of adsorption experiments showed that the synthesized nanocomposite material based on MnO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>-loaded zeolite has high efficiency in removing Cd ions from contaminated water. The results of the “soil solution” adsorption experiment and desorption studies allow us to consider the composite zeolite granules as an effective amendment for stabilizing cadmium ions in soils and reducing its bioavailability.