Laying Waste to Mercury: Inexpensive Sorbents Made from Sulfur and Recycled Cooking Oils
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- School of Chemical and Physical Sciences Flinders University Bedford Park South Australia Australia, Centre for NanoScale Science and Technology Flinders University Bedford Park South Australia Australia
- School of Chemical and Physical Sciences Flinders University Bedford Park South Australia Australia
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa Lisbon Portugal
- Environmental Sciences Division Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge Tennessee USA
- School of Chemical and Physical Sciences Flinders University Bedford Park South Australia Australia, Flinders Analytical, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences Flinders University Bedford Park South Australia Australia
- School of Chemical and Physical Sciences Flinders University Bedford Park South Australia Australia, Centre for NanoScale Science and Technology Flinders University Bedford Park South Australia Australia, School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering University of Melbourne Parkville Victoria Australia
- Centre for Advanced Materials &, Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), School of Science RMIT University Melbourne Victoria Australia
- Centre for Advanced Materials &, Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), School of Science RMIT University Melbourne Victoria Australia, School of Engineering RMIT University Melbourne Victoria Australia
- Instituto de Medicina Molecular Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa Lisbon Portugal, Department of Chemistry University of Cambridge Cambridge United Kingdom
Mercury pollution threatens the environment and human health across the globe. This neurotoxic substance is encountered in artisanal gold mining, coal combustion, oil and gas refining, waste incineration, chloralkalai plant operation, metallurgy, and areas of agriculture in which mercuryrich fungicides are used. Thousands of tonnes of mercury are emitted annually through these activities. With the Minamata Convention on Mercury entering force this year, increasing regulation of mercury pollution is imminent. It is therefore critical to provide inexpensive and scalable mercury sorbents. The research herein addresses this need by introducing low-cost mercury sorbents made solely from sulfur and unsaturated cooking oils. A porous version of the polymer was prepared by simply synthesising the polymer in the presence of a sodium chloride porogen. The resulting material is a rubber that captures liquid mercury metal, mercury vapour, inorganic mercury bound to organic matter, and highly toxic alkylmercury compounds. Mercury removal from air, water and soil was demonstrated. Because sulfur is a by-product of petroleum refining and spent cooking oils from the food industry are suitable starting materials, these mercury-capturing polymers can be synthesised entirely from waste and supplied on multi-kilogram scales. This study is therefore an advance in waste valorisation and environmental chemistry.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM); Australian Research Council (ARC); European Research Council (ERC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1409120
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1394417; OSTI ID: 1409121
- Journal Information:
- Chemistry - A European Journal, Journal Name: Chemistry - A European Journal Vol. 23 Journal Issue: 64; ISSN 0947-6539
- Publisher:
- ChemPubSoc EuropeCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- Germany
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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