Fabrication, characterization and theoretical investigation of novel Fe3O4@egg-shell membrane as a green nanosorbent for simultaneous preconcentration of Cu (II) and Tl (I) prior to ETAAS determination

Abstract

Eggshell membrane modified by Fe3O4 magnetite were prepared and used as an adsorbent for simultaneous extraction and preconcentration of copper and thallium ions via magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) method. After adsorption, these ions were desorbed with hydrochloric acid followed with specific determination by electrothermal atomic absorption (ETAAS). The prepared Surface modification of eggshell membrane with doped Fe3O4 magnetite nanoparticles was investigated with field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrometry was used to characterize the adsorbent. The MSPE requirement was optimized. The detection limits of 0.96 and 0.17 ng/L were obtained for copper and thallium, respectively. The linear range was 0.020–0.420 ng/mL for copper and 0.005–0.065 ng/mL for thallium. The relative standard deviations of the method for eight replicate determination of 0.100 and 0.015 ng/mL of Cu (II) and Tl (I) were ±2.62% and ±4.51%, sequentially. The technique was employed for the determination of target ions in different environmental samples with high recoveries. For understanding the interaction between Fe3O4 and CaCO3, the adsorption structures and energies of a CaCO3 on the Fe3O4 (111) surface have been computed at the level of density functional theory.