Cerium Oxide Hollow Nanospheres for Adsorption of As(V) and Cr(VI)

Despite recent advances in modern technology to improve human health, one of the most pressing environmental issues facing the world today is the rapid decrease in access to clean drinking water. Millions of people worldwide lack access to safe drinking water. Sources of clean water are already being exploited for agricultural and industrial purposes, and human activities have further contributed to this problem by contaminating drinking water sources with industrial pollutants such as arsenic and chromium. Because nanoscale cerium oxide (ceria) has large surface area, high catalytic activity, and high affinity for arsenic and chromium ions, ceria has been investigated for water purification. We are currently exploring the hydrothermal synthesis of ceria hollow nanospheres for removal of As(V) and Cr(VI) from contaminated drinking water. The hollow interiors of the nanospheres offer the potential for core-shell synthesis with embedded iron oxide nanoparticles. By rendering the nanoparticles magnetically active, we can explore alternative routes to centrifugation for removal of contaminants and recycling of the material. The morphology and composition of the synthesized ceria were verified by scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry was used to measure the removal of As(V) and Cr(VI) ions from contaminated water samples by the hollow nanospheres. Insight from this work may help to realize new water purification materials for the efficient removal of As(V) and Cr(VI) from contaminated water.