The aim of this study is the investigation of nitrate, lead and cadmium removal from aqueous solution using inorganic materials (hazelnut shell (HS) and HS activated carbon (HSAC)) – supported zero valent iron nano particles (HS-nZVI and HSAC-nZVI) and organic materials (natural zeolite (Ze) and sand (Sa)) – supported zero valent iron nano particles (Ze-nZVI and Sa-nZVI). These novel adsorbents was synthesized by the sodium borohydride reduction method. The nature and morphology of adsorbents were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET-N 2 ) analysis. The SEM images revealed that nZVI immobilized on Ze-nZVI, Sa-nZVI, HS-nZVI and HSAC-Fe 0 were spherical and uniformly dispersed on the surface of the stabilizers. The synthesized materials were then tested for the removal of nitrate, lead and cadmium from aqueous solution. Isotherm experiments indicated that the maximum adsorption capacity of Ze-nZVI is higher than other adsorbents. The maximum adsorption capacities of Ze-nZVI for nitrate, Pb(II) and Cd(II) were 113.2, 131.5 and 114.6 , respectively. Reduction of nitrate, Pb(II) and Cd(II) using Ze-nZVI was in accordance with the pseudo first order kinetic model. Keywords: Nanoscale zero-valent iron particles, Nitrate, Lead, Cadmium, Sorption isotherm, Kinetic modeling.
