Manganese Dioxide nanosheet suspension: A novel absorbent for Cadmium(II) contamination in waterbody.

A MnO2 nanosheet (MnO2-NS) suspension was prepared from tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMA⋅OH), H2O2, and MnCl2⋅4H2O, and its efficiency for Cd(II) removal from aqueous solutions was investigated. The maximum adsorption capacity of the MnO2-NS for Cd(II) was evaluated to be about 348 mg/g, which is thus far the highest value reported for MnO2 at pH 6.0. This high adsorption capacity is attributed to efficient ion exchange. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that Cd(II) was adsorbed on MnO2 as CdO and Cd(OH)2. After Cd(II) adsorption, the suspended MnO2-NS aggregated and precipitated within 5.0 min from solution. Therefore, dispersive MnO2-NS can be used to remove Cd(II) from wastewater rapidly and with high efficiency.