Synthesis of bitter gourd-shaped nanoscaled hydroxyapatite and its adsorption property for heavy metal ions

Abstract As an eco-friendly adsorption material, hydroxyapatite (HA) exhibits different adsorption characteristics depending on its morphology. In the present work, nano HA with different morphologies was successfully synthesized by controlling the addition of mono-dodecyl phosphate potassium (MDP-K). The particle size, specific surface area and pore volume of the as-prepared HA powders are inclined to be on the rise with the increase of MDP-K addition. The bitter gourd-shaped nano HA, synthesized with addition of 4 g MDP-K, possesses with a specific surface area of 77.25 m2/g, a pore volume of 0.1825 cm3/g as well as a high adsorption capacity of heavy metal ions. The outstanding adsorption property for heavy metal ions of nano HA provides evidence that the material has a great potential in application of water treatment procedure.