Strategies for enhancing molybdenum sorption from aqueous solutions using aluminum-based sorbents

The removal of molybdenum from water is essential for mitigating the environmental and health impacts of industrial contamination. This study presents a strategy to enhance the sorption capability of molybdenum by introducing functional groups and optimizing structural properties of aluminum-based materials. AlOHCO3 and LiAl-LDH exhibited high sorption capacities of 260 mg/g and 320 mg/g, respectively, significantly surpassing the capacity of AlOOH (184 mg/g). The improvements are attributed to the incorporation of CO32- in both materials and the interlayer structure in LiAl-LDH, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. The primary sorption mechanisms for AlOOH and AlOHCO3 involved electrostatic interactions and ion complexation. Additionally, coordination effects were observed for LiAl-LDH. These aluminum-based materials exhibit significant potential for practical applications in water treatment, particularly for addressing molybdenum contamination.