Trimellitic/ Diglycolic acid Funtionalized Magnetite (Fe3O4) Nanoparticles for the Efficient Removal of Pb(II) and Cr(VI) from Wastewater Streams

Abstract

Superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles prepared by simple oxidative hydrolysis method and functionalized with Trimellitic acid/ Glycolic acid have been reported for the first time. These nano-sorbents are named as FTA-1 and FGA-1. These functionalized nanoparticles are characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, VSM and FTIR spectroscopy. XRD and SEM results confirmed the average crystallite size of 39 nm with an average particle size of 53 ± 5 nm. VSM confirmed the paramagnetic behaviour of FTA-1 and FGA-1. A batch adsorption method was used for the removal of Pb(II) and Cr(VI) ions at optimized pH and time for both adsorbents with maximum removal capacity for Pb(II) ions at pH 6-7 whereas, for Cr(VI) at 3 pH. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms were used for the adsorption kinetics studies and equilibrium data fitted well for both adsorption isotherms. The isotherms showed that the removal mechanism for Pb(II) and Cr(VI) was a combination of chemosorption and physiosorption, where physiosorption was more preferable. Both nano-sorbents showed efficient removal capability of Cations and Anions from solutions simply by applying external magnetic field.