Removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solution using APTES-GA modified magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles: Kinetic and isotherm study

Abstract

In this work the surface modification of iron oxide magnetic nanoadsorbents (MNP-APTES-GA) prepared by functionalizing magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MNPs) with (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) and glutaraldehyde (GA) was used for the removal of Cu(II) from aqueous solution. The solvothermally prepared MNPs were characterized by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometer. The batch adsorption experiments were carried out to study the adsorption behaviour of Cu(II) on MNP-APTES-GA by optimizing different parameters such as contact time, adsorbent dose, initial Cu(II) concentration and pH. The adsorption behaviour of Cu(II) on MNP-APTES-GA follows pseudo first order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherm of MNP-APTES-GA for Cu(II) fitted well for the Langmuir model with the adsorption capacity of 19.26 mg g-1. Kinetic and isotherm study of MNP-APTES-GA suggested that these nanoadsorbents could be a promising candidate for the removal of Cu(II) from the wastewater.