Diverse Surface Chemistry of Cobalt Ferrite Nanoparticles to Optimize Copper(II) Removal from Aqueous Media.

Kosmas Vamvakidis,Catherine Dendrinou-Samara,Theodora-Marianna Kostitsi,Antonis Makridis

doi:10.3390/ma13071537

Kosmas Vamvakidis, Catherine Dendrinou-Samara + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13071537

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Abstract

Water pollution by heavy metals is one of the most serious worldwide environmental issues. With a focus on copper(II) ions and copper complex removal, in the present study, ultra-small primary CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) coated with octadecylamine (ODA) of adequate magnetization were solvothermally prepared. The surface modification of the initial MNPs was adapted via three different chemical approaches based on amine and/or carboxylate functional groups: (i) the deposition of polyethylimide (PEI), (ii) covalent binding with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), and (iii) conjugation with both PEI and DTPA, respectively. FT-IR, TGA, and DLS measurements confirmed that PEI or/and DTPA were successfully functionalized. The percentage of the free amine (−NH2) groups was also estimated. Increased magnetization values were found in case of PEI and DTPA-modified MNPs that stemmed from the adsorbed amine or oxygen ligands. Comparative UV–Vis studies for copper(II) ion removal from aqueous solutions were conducted, and the effect of time on the adsorption capacity was analyzed. The PEI-modified particles exhibited the highest adsorption capacity (164.2 mg/g) for copper(II) ions and followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics, while the polynuclear copper(II) complex Cux(DTPA)y was also able to be immobilized. The nanoadsorbents were quickly isolated from the solution by magnetic separation and regenerated easily by acidic treatment.

Highlights

The removal of heavy metals from wastewater has gained much attention because of their detrimental impact on ecological systems and human health [1,2]
We report the formation of cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs), and three different surface modifications were tested to detect their optimal performance as nanoadsorbents of copper(II) ions and copper complexes for aqueous solutions
As an artificial amino acid, it is known as complexone and is to functionalize nanomaterials and has demonstrated an outstanding ability to remove a wide variety widely studied and used for the mobilization of heavy metals and radionuclides from contaminated of heavy metal ions and biomolecules due to the strong complex capability of the lone pair electron soils [49,50,51]; (iii) theatoms employment of both and DTPAagent wasthat expected provide of nitrogen

Summary

Introduction

The removal of heavy metals from wastewater has gained much attention because of their detrimental impact on ecological systems and human health [1,2]. A considerable amount of heavy metals are able to coordinate various organic ligands in natural water or industrial effluents sourced from tanning or electroplating plants, hindering the self-purification capability of seas and rivers by chemical and biological degradation [8,9]. It is imperative to adopt efficient measures to handle the copper pollution in water effluents and biological systems, whether it is present as free ion or in the form of complexes.

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