Gravity-driven composite cellulose acetate/activated carbon aluminium-based hydrogel membrane for landfill wastewater treatment

A composite cellulose acetate (CA) carbon-based aluminium hydroxide (CACG) hydrogel membrane was prepared for water purification and real leachate wastewater treatment. The composite CACG hydrogel structure was characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Initially, the study investigated the efficiency of the composite CACG hydrogel membrane in removing divalent ions such as Cu2+, Pb2+, Mg2+, and Ca2+ at 10 mg/L and 1000 mg/L concentrations from synthetic feed solutions. The results revealed that metal ions removal efficiency was higher at 10 mg/L feed concentration. The composite CACG hydrogel membrane demonstrated high selectivity for Cu2+ and Pb2+ ions, with more than 99% removal from the solution. The performance of the CACG hydrogel was evaluated in four cycles with a constant metal ions removal efficiency of over 98%. These findings suggest composite hydrogel could be a promising adsorbent material for removing metal ions from synthetic water and wastewater. The total suspended solids (TDS) were reduced by 58%. Additionally, the concentrations of arsenic (As3+), lead (Pb2+), zinc (Zn2+), copper (Cu2+), nickel (Ni2+), Manganese (Mn2+), Magnesium (Mg2+), Potassium (K+), Calcium (Ca2+), and Sodium (Na+) saw reductions of 99.9%, 98.3%, 96%, 96%, 99.6%, 93%, 74.75%, 73.6, 60%, and 14.9% respectively.