Dye removal and kinetics of adsorption by magnetic chitosan nanoparticles

Treatment and recycle of wastewater provide a route to water shortage in the world. Dyes are one of the contaminant in the environment. In this study, magnetic chitosan nanocomposites were fabricated through a facile chemical route and theirs dye removal ability as an adsorbent were studied. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the synthesized nanosorbents. The results showed that the synthesized adsorbents possess quite a good adsorption capacity (with maximum adsorption capacity of 20.5 mg/g by pseudo-second-order model) to dye due to the abundant amino and hydroxyl groups of chitosan. In addition, they can be easily and rapidly extracted from water by magnetic force, and showed good reusability in regeneration studies. The magnetic chitosan nanocomposites could be recovered conveniently and possessed of excellent adsorptive property; it can be developed as an economical and alternative adsorbent to treat dye wastewater.