A New Concept for Adsorption Studies Using a Brush-Type Adsorbent (Magnetite Coated Animal Fibers)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The brush-type adsorbent is an innovative material that provides significant advantages to adsorption processes and contains effective and diversifiable materials such as nanomaterials. The adsorbent can be separated from the environment by a single movement and it brings practicality, convenience, and low-cost to batch and column systems. The brush fibers were successfully coated with the adsorptive materials obtained from Fe(II)/Fe(III), Ag(I), Cu(II), Zn(II), and Ni(II) solutions. The particle size of magnetite nanoparticles formed on brush fibers is about 60 nm. SEM-EDX analysis showed that uncoated brush fibers mainly contained carbon, oxygen, and sulfur. Also, magnetite nanoparticles are spherical and contain iron and oxygen. The adsorbents have high removal efficiencies (80–94%) for arsenic, cadmium, lead, molybdenum, selenium, and thallium. The pseudo first-order, the pseudo second-order, Elovich, and the intraparticle diffusion kinetic models were fitted to the experimental data. The pseudo-second-order mechanism was predominant (R2 = 0.99–1.00) for all the elements, and the adsorptions are chemical in nature. The adsorbent can be produced for various purposes, in different contents and sizes. The use of this brush-type adsorbent for water and air pollutants will contribute to both the environment and the economy by facilitating and reducing the adsorption stages.