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How to Remove Mercury Ions from Water

Scientists from Iran have shown that activated carbon produced from walnut shells can cost-effectively adsorb mercury ions from water. On the other hands, I have done some experiments on activated carbon derivated from walnut shells [6]. According to the results of my own experiments, activated carbon from walnut shells is apparently much better for filtering mercurous ions as compared to activated carbon from bamboo.

In additon to mercury ions, activated carbon from walnut shells can also filter ions of some other toxic metals, including cadmium ions [2], zinc ions [3], copper ions [3, 4], lead ions [3], nickel ions [5], and some other oily contaminants.

For more details about my work or other scientists' work, check out the links in the reference section.

[1] Removal of mercury from water by carbonaceous sorbents derived from walnut shell 

[2] Removal of Dissolved Cadmium by Adsorption onto Walnut and Almond Shell Charcoal: Comparison with Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) 

[3] The use of nutshell carbons in drinking water filters for removal of trace metals 

[4] Removal of Copper(II) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Walnut-, Hazelnut- and Almond-Shells 

[5] Sorption of nickel ions from aqueous solutions using activated carbon derived from walnut shell waste 

[6] How to Remove Hg Ions from Water