Preparation of chitosan/MCM-41-PAA nanocomposites and the adsorption behaviour of Hg(II) ions

Abstract

A novel functional hybrid mesoporous composite material (CMP) based on chitosan and MCM-41-PAA was reported and its application as an excellent adsorbent for Hg(II) ions was also investigated. Innovatively, MCM-41-PAA was prepared by using diatomite and polyacrylic acid (PAA) with integrated polymer–silica hybrid frameworks, and then CMP was fabricated by introducing MCM-41-PAA to chitosan using glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent. The structure and morphology of CMP were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller measurements. The results showed that the CMP possessed multifunctional groups such as –OH, –COOH and –NH 2 with large specific surface area. Adsorption behaviour of Hg(II) ions onto CMP was fitted better by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir model when the initial Hg(II) concentration, pH, adsorption temperature and time were 200 mg l −1 , 4, 298 K and 120 min, respectively, as the optimum conditions. The corresponding maximum adsorption capacity could reach 164 mg g −1 . According to the thermodynamic parameters determined such as free energy, enthalpy and entropy, the adsorption process of Hg(II) ions was spontaneous endothermic adsorption.