Performance of synthesized cast and electrospun PVA/chitosan/ZnO-NH2 nano-adsorbents in single and simultaneous adsorption of cadmium and nickel ions from wastewater

The performance of synthesized cast and electrospun polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan/zinc oxide/aminopropyltriethoxylsilane (PVA/chitosan/ZnO-APTES) nano-adsorbents were compared in removal of Cd(II) and Ni(II) ions from wastewater. The adsorbents were characterized by SEM, BET, FTIR and TGA analyses. Furthermore, the swelling investigations were carried out to study the adsorbent stability in aqueous solution. The effect of several parameters such as contents of ZnO-NH2, contact time, initial Cd(II) and Ni(II) concentration and temperature on the adsorption capacity was investigated in a batch mode. In comparison with cast adsorbent, nanofiber adsorbent indicated the better adsorption performance. The experimental data well fitted the double-exponential kinetic model. In single metal ion system, the maximum adsorption capacity of nanofiber for Cd(II) and Ni(II) ions is estimated to be 1.239 and 0.851 mmol/g, respectively, much higher than q(m) of cast adsorbent for Cd(II) (0.625 mmol/g) and Ni(II) (0.474 mmol/g) ions. Thermodynamic parameters were investigated to identify the nature of adsorption process. In binary system of Cd(II)-Ni(II) ions, the inhibitory effect of competitive Cd(II) ion on the Ni(II) adsorption was greater than the inhibitory effect of competitive on the Cd(II) adsorption. The selectivity adsorption of both nanofiber and cast adsorbents was in order of Cd(II) > Ni(II).