Synthesis and Applications of Decorated Nanocomposite Chitosan for the Separation of Some Elements of Economic and Environmental Interest

Abstract

In this study, the modification of graphene oxide with magnetite and chitosan to form nanocomposite (MCh/GO) was investigated. The synthesized nanocomposite (MCh/GO) was tested for adsorption of Cd(II) and Nd(III) from aqueous medium.The nanocomposite (MCh/GO) was characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM and TGA before and after the adsorption process. XRD analysis shows the interaction between magnetic chitosan and graphene oxide which can be considered as physical interaction (intermolecular and intramolecular H bonding, peptide bonding, and reveals the presence of distinct peaks for magnetite and graphene oxide. TGA data agreed that the prepared MCh/GO nanocomposite shows thermal stability Much higher than graphene oxide and chitosan samples.The adsorption kinetics of Cd(II) and Nd(III) obey pseudo-first order.Thermodynamic studies show that the adsorption processes of both Cd(II) and Nd(III) by MCh/GO nanocomposite under the conditions Optimal are endothermic processes and have a spontaneous character for Nd(III) and a non-spontaneous behavior of Cd(II).Langmuir isothermal, the absorption of Nd(III) (58.14 mg g-1) is preferably absorbed by the MCh/GO nanocomposite instead of Cd(II) (29.3 mg g-1).Therefore, the MCh/GO nanocomposite can be used at large scale for purification, processing and many industrial processes because of its promising properties.