Enhanced removal of lead and cadmium from water by Fe₃O₄-cross linked-O-phenylenediamine nano-composite

ABSTRACT

A method is presented for surface encapsulation of nano-Fe₃O₄ by o-phenylenediamine via cross-linking using formaldehyde and glutaraldhyde for the formation of two newly designed magnetic nano-sorbents. These have been characterized by FT-IR, TGA, and SEM and maintained the magnetic and thermal stability characters. The metal capacity values of Pb(II) and Cd(II) have been optimized in presence of different physico-chemical parameters and confirmed the superior selectivity for Pb(II). Maximum capacity values of Pb(II) (7000-10000 ± 250-675 µmol g⁻¹) and Cd(II) (1500-2250 ± 30-75 µmol g⁻¹) at optimum conditions and excellent extraction values (94.10-100.0 ± 1.2-3.5%) from industrial wastewater have been identified.

KEYWORDS:

• Magnetic Fe₃O₄
• nano-sorbent
• cross-linking
• o-phenylenediamine
• lead (II)
• cadmium (II)