Abstract
The simultaneous adsorption of metal ions on bare and functionalized zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI) from aqueous solution was tested using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The nanomaterials were synthetized using borohydride reduction of iron salt followed by addition of EDTA and pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (dipicolinic acid, PDCA) in different molar ratios. Functionalized materials were characterized by FT-IR, XRD and SEM-EDS methods. The ligand attachment on the particles was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy. The formation of a magnetite and feroxyhyte shell on the core of functionalized nanoparticles was confirmed by the XRD study. Transformation of chain-like structures into clusters of nanospheres with smaller diameter size was observed from SEM study of EDTA-nVZI particles. The average diameter of bare nZVI particles comprised 115 nm, while EDTA functionalization resulted in an average diameter of 22 and 35 nm. The PDCA-nZVI particles obtained with the molar ratio of Fe : PDCA = 1 : 1 retain the chain-like structure with enlargement of the average particle diameter to 267 nm. SEM study of PDCA-nZVI particles that were produced using the ratio Fe : PDCA = 2 : 1 have demonstrated the unique property of elongation into ellipsoidal forms of reduced dimensions (a = 61 nm; b = 28 nm). The simultaneous metal ion removal from aqueous solution was the most efficient in the case of bare nZVI particles (91–97%). EDTA functionalization was found to be highly selective for Cu and Cr removal (95%), while PDCA functionalization shows selective adsorption of Cu, Cr and V in an aqueous medium (93%). Iron nanoparticles functionalized with PDCA in both of the used ratios showed more efficient metal ion adsorption in the case when smaller ellipsoidal particles were formed.
Highlights
Special physical and chemical properties of engineered nanoparticles have directed research interest towards production and use of new materials in many different elds of application
This work demonstrated the removal of metal ions from aqueous solutions using bare and functionalized nZVI particles, which was analysed by inductively plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) method
Functionalization of particles was performed during synthesis of nZVI by addition of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) or pyridinedicarboxylic acid or dipicolinic acid (PDCA) in different molar ratios
Summary
Special physical and chemical properties of engineered nanoparticles have directed research interest towards production and use of new materials in many different elds of application. In this work, we synthesized bare and functionalized nZVI particles and tested their removal efficiency of selected metals from model solutions by the ICP-OES method. The prepared bare and functionalized nZVI particles were tested as an adsorptive material for Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Mn, Ni, and V when present as a mixture of metal ions in an aqueous solution.
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