Aqueous mercury adsorption by activated carbons

Due to serious public health threats resulting from mercury pollution and its rapid distribution in our food chain through the contamination of water bodies, stringent regulations have been enacted on mercury-laden wastewater discharge. Activated carbons have been widely used in the removal of mercuric ions from aqueous effluents. The surface and textural characteristics of activated carbons are the two decisive factors in their efficiency in mercury removal from wastewater. Herein, the structural properties and binding affinity of mercuric ions from effluents have been presented. Also, specific attention has been directed to the effect of sulfur-containing functional moieties on enhancing the mercury adsorption. It has been demonstrated that surface area, pore size, pore size distribution and surface functional groups should collectively be taken into consideration in designing the optimal mercury removal process. Moreover, the mercury adsorption mechanism has been addressed using equilibrium adsorption isotherm, thermodynamic and kinetic studies. Further recommendations have been proposed with the aim of increasing the mercury removal efficiency using carbon activation processes with lower energy input, while achieving similar or even higher efficiencies.