Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Modified with Moringa Seed Proteins for Recovery of Precious Metal Ions

Precious metals are highly demanded economic value metals that require to be recovered from industrial wastes and electronic used products (e-waste). They are such as gold (Au) as well as Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) for instance palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt). The study was conducted to test the magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles modified with Moringa oleifera seed proteins as adsorbent for recovery of Au(III), Pd(II) and Pt(IV) from aqueous solutions. Different functional groups responsible for adsorption, morphology, thermal stability, and surface charges of the nanoparticles were characterized with FTIR, SEM, TGA and Zeta potential respectively. Batch adsorption method was used, and precious metal ions percentage recovery was measured using ICP-OES. The effects of pH, initial adsorbate concentration, adsorption agitation time and adsorbent dosage were studied at room temperature of 25°C. Au(III) yielded a maximal recovery of 99.8%, followed by Pt(IV) with 87.7%, then Pd(II) with 72.7% at a pH 2.5, 10 mg/L initial adsorbate concentration, 120 minutes agitation time and 0.065 g adsorbent dosage. These results suggested that modified iron oxide nanoparticles were effective in selective recovery of the precious metal ions.