Effective elimination of lead from polluted wastewater utilizing a novel nanocomposite derived from byproducts of drinking water industry.

Industrial and consumer waste can introduce trace metals into a water supply, resulting in detrimental effects on both human health and natural ecosystems. The primary objective of this research is to produce and characterize a new nanocomposite sorbent (Zeolite- nano-drinking water treatment residuals, Ze-nWTR), followed by assessing its effectiveness in removing Pb(II) from wastewater under varying conditions such as solution pH, presence of competing ions, sorbent quantity, temperature, and contact time using batch experiments. The Langmuir and power function models were utilized to accurately depict the Pb (II) adsorption isotherm and kinetic data. The nanocomposite exhibited a maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) of 198.7 mgg^-1, which was determined to be 2.6 and 5.5 times greater than the adsorption capacities of nWTR (75 mgg^-1) and Zeolite (36 mgg^-1), respectively. Significant increase in sorbed Pb(II) was noticed above the point of zero charge (pH_zpc) value of nanocomposite (7.2). Thermodynamic experiments demonstrated that Pb adsorption process onto nanocomposite was endothermic and involuntary. The supposed mechanism of Pb (II) sorption onto nanocomposite was discussed. The final results indicated that nanocomposite (Ze-nWTR) can likely apply for Pb(II) removal from wastewater due to its high affinity towards Pb adsorption, repeatedly used, economically and sustainability.