ABSTRACT
Objective: Taking molecular sieve as a main component, to develop adsorbents which can selectively remove five kinds of heavy metal in Salvia miltiorrhiz extract solution. Methods: The 13X zeolite powder and active alumina powder were selected to compose adsorbent from four materials including iron red powder, fast powder (activated alumina), 13X molecular sieve powder, and zinc sulfide powder. The adsorbent formula was optimized with uniform design for mixture experiment. Pore-expanding agents, such as Chitisan and EDTA, were added to improve adsorbent pore structure. Results: With uniform design for mixture experiment, adsorbents with 13X zeolite ratio 0.275 6—0.465 5 could effectively remove five heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Cd, Hg, and As) in water solution. The optimal adsorbents from uniform design were hard to remove heavy metal in S. miltiorrhiz extract solution in 4 h, and removal ratios of Cu, Pb, Cd, Hg, and As were 14.4%, 74.5%, 54.6%, 13.4%, and 8.8%, respectively. With the same formula, pore- expanding adsorbents could effectively remove five heavy metals in S. miltiorrhiz extract solution in 4 h, and removal ratios of Cu, Pb, Cd, Hg, and As increased to 21.0%, 91.5%, 97.5%, 60.3%, and 46.8%, respectively. Conclusion: Pore-expanding adsorbents prepared in this study could remove five heavy metals in S. miltiorrhiz extract solution in short time, exhibiting industrial application prospect.