Removal of Cd(II) ion from aqueous environment using triaminotriethoxysilane grafted oxidized activated carbon synthesized via activation and subsequent silanization

Abstract

Abstract In this research, triaminotriethoxysilane (TATS) grafted oxidized activated carbon (AC) was prepared (TATS@AC) by silanization reaction through ultrasonication and used for the removal of Cd(II) from aqueous phase. The obtained TATS@AC composite was characterized by SEM-EDX, FTIR, TEM, TGA, BET, XRD and zeta potential. The influence of experimental factors such as temperature (298-318 K), contact time (5-400 min), pH (2-10), amount of TATS@AC composite (10-50 mg), and initial Cd(II) concentration (20-600 mol/L) was investigated. The best optimum parameters for pH, time, temperature, and dose were 7.5, 240 min, 298 K, and 30 mg, respectively. The experimental adsorption data showed that Cd(II) adsorption over TATS@AC composite followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-first-order kinetic models. The value of Q m for Cd(II) was found 177.3 mg/g at 298K. The temperature study in the range of 298–318 K confirmed that the adsorption process was exothermic in nature. The regeneration of TATS@AC composite was studied which showed that TATS@AC could be effectively used up to five repeated cycles.