Development and Utilization of Chitosan/Carbon Nanocomposite for Heavy Metal Removal from Wastewater
Ahmed M. Youssef, Abd El-Salam Faze, Mahmoud Shaaban
Abstract
Industrial or sanitary wastewater, which is rich in heavy elements, represents one of the most important environmental pollutants facing researchers. So they are working to prepare environmentally friendly polymers that have a high ability to absorb heavy elements. Chitosan (Cs) is a natural biopolymer that was obtained from shrimp shells using four stages deproteinization, demineralization, decoloration, and deacetylation. In addition, carbon nanoparticles (C-NPs) that were obtained from the treatment of the agriculture wastes were used with the Cs to prepare Cs/C-NPs nanocomposite (Cs/C-NC). Both the prepared Cs and Cs/C-NC were used in water treatment for metal ions (Cr, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, and Pb) removal. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and XRD were used to characterize the prepared adsorbents. The adsorption of heavy metals by the prepared samples was investigated as well as the kinetic and isotherm studies. The results displayed that the amount of the heavy metals ions uptake by Cs/C-NC was higher than Cs. Adsorption of various ions with the aid of Cs and Cs/C-NC was examined within varied parameters. Additionally, the kinetic studies of the absorption of Cs and Cs/C-NC for various ions obey Pseudo-second-order. While the isotherm studies obey Langmuir isotherm for Cs whereas obey Freundlich isotherm for Cs/C-NC except for Zn ions that obey Langmuir isotherm.