Removal of Cd(II) ions from contaminated water by a new modified magnetic chitosan nano composite

Magnetic chitosan nanocomposites are one of the more recent advanced groups of adsorbents used to remove contaminants from waste water. In this research, N- Nicotinyl-N', N"-bis (Hexamethylenyl) phosphoric triamide (HE) was used as an additive to form a new nanocomposite with the structure of chitosan / 5% Fe3O4 Nps/10% HE resulting in the highly efficient removal of Cd(II) ions from an aqueous solution. Several techniques were applied to characterize the new-fabricated nanocomposite: X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) was used to measure the removal percentage of Cd(II) ions from the contaminated water samples. Results showed that 15 mg of the nanocomposite could remove Cd(II) ions with a rate of 99.9% from 20 mL of its 100 ppm aqueous solution in pH=9 with contact time of 1h. Furthermore, the same amount of the nanocomposite was applied to remove Cd(II) ions from 20 mL of a real wastewater sample with a pH=9 and the same contact time. The resulting removal rate of Cd(II) ions was 99.5%.