The Role of Chitosan (CHS) and Chitosan-Silver Nanoadsorbents (COMP) in Adsorption of Cu (II) and Fe (II) Ions from Electroplating Wastewater.

Abstract

In this work, green development of CHS-silver nanocomposite (COMP) using aqueous leaf extracts of Nicotiana tabacum and silver nitrate as reducing agent and precursor respectively. The prepared CHS and COMP were characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectroscopy. The CHS and nanocomposite were employed to remove copper and iron metal ions from electroplating wastewater via batch adsorptions process. The XRD results of the nanocomposite confirmed the formation of COMP. The BET results showed increased in surface area of CHS from 12.67 to 139.20 m2/g after doped with nanosilver. The maximum percentage removal of copper and iron by COMP were 94.76% and 98.80% respectively under the applied conditions of 348 K (temperature), 60 minutes (contact time) using 25 mg (adsorbent dosage). The isotherm data were well best fitted to Jovanovic isotherm model. While kinetic data followed the pseudo-second order model, an indication of chemical adsorption. This study showed that COMP with high adsorption efficiency can be used successfully to adsorbed copper and iron from electroplating wastewater.