Facile one pot green synthesis of Chitosan-Iron oxide (CS-Fe2O3) nanocomposite: Removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) from synthetic and industrial wastewater

A novel Chitosan-Iron oxide (CS-Fe2O3) nanocomposite was synthesized by a facile one pot green route. The surface morphology of nanocomposite was characterized by various instrumental techniques such as SEM/EDX, TEM, AFM, XRD, FTIR, TGA and BET analysis. The nanocomposite was further explored for the sequestration of toxic metals Pb (II), Cd (II) in single system and Pb (II) in binary system from aqueous solution. The influence of various sorption parameters such as initial concentration, contact time, pH and temperature were evaluated to get the optimum conditions. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm were applied to fit the experimental data. Pseudo-first, Pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion models were applied for the kinetic study. The Langmuir isotherm and Pseudo-second order kinetic model were best fitted with experimental results. The sorption process was found to be endothermic, spontaneous with increased randomness as confirmed by thermodynamic studies. The nanocomposite showed excellent recyclable efficiency upto five cycles. The nanocomposite has also been proved to be an excellent potential sorbent for the removal of potentially toxic elements from industrial and medical wastewater. Therefore, the present nanocomposite is considered as an efficient and ecofriendly sorbent for the removal of potentially toxic elements from wastewater. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.