Polyacrylic acid-grafted magnetite nanoparticles for remediation of Pb(II)-contained water

Abstract

Toxic Pb(II) contaminants in water pose a significant threat to the environment and public health, and thus technologies for Pb(II) remediation are attracting increasing industrial interests. In the present work, polyacrylic acid, offering abundant carboxyl groups capable of coordination with Pb(II) cations, was grafted from the magnetite nanoparticle surface via the bridging function of silane coupling agent for remediation of Pb(II)-contained water. Multiple techniques were employed to characterize the structure of the nanocomposite, and the effects of nanoadsorbent dose, pH value, and temperature on Pb(II) removal capability of the nanocomposite were investigated, respectively. Furthermore, adsorption kinetics and isotherms studies were performed for better understanding the mechanism by which Pb(II) cations were adsorbed. Finally, the feasibility of regenerating the exhausted nanoadsorbent by simply changing pH value was explored. According to these results, we intend to offer an efficient, separable, and reusable magnetic nanoadsorbent that may be a potential candidate for remediating Pb(II) contamination in water.