Exploration of silver oxide nanoparticles as a pointer of lanthanum for environmental applications

• Silver oxide nanoparticles.
• Eco-friendly material.
• Selective adsorbant for La3+.
• Environmental applications.
• Good candidate for water treatment.

Solid phase extraction technique is a promising advancement in the fundamental science and has vital role in the environmental and health monitoring. A huge number of solid phase materials have been studied but the prospective for industrial development as an environmental supplement is still limited. Therefore, silver oxide (Ag2O) nanoparticles have been prepared and applied as a selective adsorbent for the adsorption and determination of lanthanum ion using simple eco-friendly solid phase adsorption method. Pure Ag2O nanoparticles powders were illustrated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FEEM), X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The analytical potential of Ag2O nanoparticles was studied for a selective extraction of nickel prior to its determination by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. The selectivity of Ag2O nanoparticles was investigated toward different metal ions, including Cd(II), Cu(II), Hg(II), La(III), Mn(II), Pb(II), Pd(II) and Y(III). Data obtained from the selectivity study showed that the selectivity of Ag2O nanoparticles was the most toward La(III). The uptake capacity for La(III) was experimentally calculated to be 94.30 mg/g. Moreover, adsorption isotherm data of La(III) on Ag2O nanoparticles, were well fit with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, strongly supporting that the adsorption process was mainly monolayer on homogeneous adsorbent surfaces. Kinetic study revealed that the adsorption of La(III) on Ag2O nanoparticles followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.