with tetragonal zirconia nanocrystallites (∼ 4 nm size), useful for adsorbing cationic
pollutants from water, is prepared by a hydrothermal method. It exhibits improved adsorption
behavior for methylene blue (MB) and various heavy metal ions (> 99% efficiency for Cu 2+,
Cd 2+ and Pb 2+, initial concentration C 0= 5–20 mg/L) as compared to unmodified zirconia
(Z0) and hematite (F0). This behavior of FZ is ascribed to a combination of surface features …