Removal of Mercury(II) from Aqueous Solution: A Review of Recent Work

Mercury is one of the most toxic heavy metals in existence. It is toxic at one in one billion part quantities. Just like chemical toxicity, heavy metal toxicity has become one of the most dangerous health hazards nowadays. The removal of these heavy toxic metals by conventional methods generate a huge quantity of toxic chemical sludge and are not economical both in terms of operating and capital costs. Extensive research has been done by earlier researchers to minimize the impact of mercury because indirectly it is responsible for affecting our environment such as water, air, and land pollution and often leads to health hazards. Several researchers have developed a new alternative and low cost removal technique at laboratory scales which may have great potential for commercial applications. The purpose of this review article is to provide the summary of various techniques or methods available for removal of mercury(II) from aqueous solutions based on adsorption capacity and removal efficiencies. Some of the adsorbents like zinc cementation and polymer supported hydroxyl ethyl suphonamides are highly efficient adsorbent whose removal efficiencies are up to 99%.