Surface Modification of Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles for Separation of Toxic Heavy Metals and Environmental Applications

Abstract

Many industries like paint, leather, battery etc. discharge different toxic heavy metals in the environment. They are life threatening because, they accumulate in the living organisms and do not metabolize. To remove heavy metals from wastewater, adsorption is a convenient method due its cost effecting nature and simplicity of operation. Magnetic nanoparticles have fascinating properties e.g., higher specific surface area, facile magnetic separation, superparamagnetism etc. Adsorption capability enhances when these nanoparticles are functionalized with other ligands or materials. In this work, these nanoparticles were functionalized with ionic liquid, beta cyclodextrin, beta cyclodextrin polymer, 3-aminopropyl triethoxy silane etc. and were exploited to adsorb toxic heavy metals e.g., lead, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, chromium, mercury. The particles were synthesized and characterized by TEM, EDX, FTIR, SEM, TGA etc. The data were analyzed through the adsorption isotherms, kinetic studies etc. The reproducibility of the nanoparticles was checked by desorption studies.