Synthesized chitosan/ iron oxide nanocomposite and shrimp shell in removal of nickel, cadmium and lead from aqueous solution

In this study, an easy synthesized method for preparation of chitosan/iron oxide nanocompositeas a bio-sorbent has been applied. Analytical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction, Field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy wereutilized to survey of morphological structure and the functional groups characterization. The histogram offrequency of particle size confirmed that medium size of the synthesized nanoparticles was 50 nm. Besidethe obtained nanocomposite, application of chitosan as the precursor and shrimp shell as natural chitinand a natural polymer were assessed as adsorbents for decontamination of Ni2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ as examplesof heavy metals from drinking water. Batch studies were done for adsorption experiments by changingvariables such as pH, contact time and adsorbent dose. Based on the experimental sorption capacities, 58,202 and 12 mg of Ni, Cd and Pb per g of Chitosan-FeO nanocomposite as adsorbent respectively, confirmthat combination of Fe2O3 nanoparticles with chitosan makes a more efficient adsorbent than chitosan andchitin. Adsorbents in uptake of the mentioned heavy metals are in the order of Chitosan-FeO nanocomposite> chitosan > chitin. In addition, the kinetics and isotherm investigations were surveyed. Moreover, it hasbeen shown that the synthesized nanocomposite significantly reduces the amount of the mentioned ionsfrom the real wastewater sample.

Keywords:

Adsorbent , Chitosan iron oxide , Heavy metals , Nanocomposite , Water treatment