Innovative approaches based on alloying of metals to remove mercury from drinking water will be developed. Gold and silver nano-particles immobilized on the surface of silsesqioxane-hydride films deposited on silica-gel surfaces will be used as a novel adsorbent for trace mercury removal. Use of silsesquioxane-hydride as an additive for producing cryo-gels allows for creation of novel clean up devices for trace mercury removal from various environmental media. Incorporation of iron oxide nano-particles in pores of silica-gel increase the specificity of the sorbent to arsenic removal.