Silica aerogels modified with mercapto functional groups used for Cu(II) and Hg(II) removal from aqueous solutions

►Silica aerogel modified with (-HS) functional group was prepared by sol-gel process. ►The removal of Cu(II) and Hg(II) by adsorbent was assessed using batch technique. ►More than 99.0% removal was achieved in the pH range 4-6 using modified aerogel. ►The data were fitted well by the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm model (R2 > 0.9).