as well as its intrinsic hydrophilicity, are
responsible for the strong adsorbability toward the heavy metal ions. Not only does the longan shell have low
cost and have inherent environmental friendliness in contrast to all synthetic and even seminatural sorbents
but it also has stronger adsorbability toward Pb(II) and particularly Hg(II) ions than the most natural sorbents
reported, making longan shell attractive as a highly cost-efficient sorbent for the selective removal of hazardous
heavy metal ions.