Decorated Mn-ferrite nanoparticle@Zn-Al layered double hydroxide@Cellulose@ activated biochar nanocomposite for efficient remediation of methylene blue and mercury (II).

An innovative magnetic nanocomposite was designed and fabricated by the functionalization and support of magnetic Mn-ferrite nanoparticle (MnFe2O4) with layered double hydroxide (Zn-Al LDHs) on cellulose and activated grapes stalks-derived biochar (AGB) (MnFe2O4@Zn-Al LDHs@Cel@AGB), to incorporate active functionalities and fantastic features with the aim to explore its feasibility for removal of harmful cationic species as methylene blue dye (MB) and mercury ions from wastewater. Structural, composition, morphological, surface area, adsorption performance of the fabricated nanocomposite toward both MB and Hg(II) and reusability were also investigated. The results referred that 10 mg ofthe nanocomposite exhibited 97.4% and 84.0 % removal efficiency of 10mgL-1 MB dye and 0.1 mol L-1 Hg(II) at 25 and 30 min contact times, respectively. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics of the two pollutants (MB and Hg(II)) were both governed by the pseudo-second-order equation with possible participation of intraparticle diffusion mechanism.

Microwave functionalization of titanium oxide nanoparticles with chitosan nanolayer for instantaneous microwave sorption of Cu(II) and Cd(II) from water.

The present study is aimed to evaluate the microwave-enforced sorption approach (MES) for instantaneous extraction and removal of trace concentration of metal ions using microwave-synthesized titanium oxide nanoparticles-bonded-chitosan nanolayer (NTiO2-NCh). The proposed and designed nanocomposite was characterized by different techniques. The coveted ions were allowed to heat in presence of NTiO2-NCh nanocomposite inside a microwave apparatus for 5-20s to execute the sorption process. The contribution of microwave warming time, nanocomposite dose, concentration of Cd(II) and Cu(II) ions, pH and interfering ions were explored and optimized. Sorption of Cd(II) was characterized as 1050 and 1150µmolg-1 and those of Cu(II) were identified as 450 and 800µmolg-1 using 5 and 20s of microwave heating time, respectively. Optimization of the nanocomposite dose factor was found to enhance the metal uptake values of Cd(II) to 1800µmolg-1 using 5.0mg. The potential utilization of MES technique for removal and extraction of Cd(II) and Cu(II) at low concentration levels (mgL-1) from water samples was also explored. The percentage extraction values of Cu(II) and Cd(II) from water and wastewater samples were ranged as 86.80-88.01% and 72.56-70.67%, respectively using 60-70s heating via MES technique.

Immobilization of chitosan nanolayers on the surface of nano-titanium oxide as a novel nanocomposite for efficient removal of La(III) from water.

A novel nanocomposite has been designed and synthesized via surface crosslinking of chitosan nanolayers (NChit) with titanium oxide nanoparticles (NTiO2) using glutaraldehyde (Glu) as the crosslinking agent. A simple and green surface chemical reaction was accomplished by the aid of microwave heating process to enforce surface encapsulation and functionalization for the production of the aimed NTiO2-Glu-NChit nanocomposite. The average particles size of nanocomposite was characterized in the range of 52-58nm using SEM and confirmed by the HR-TEM. The XRD, TGA and FTIR were also employed to assure the immobilization and crosslinking processes. NTiO2-Glu-NChit was studied to estimate the sorption efficiency towards La(III) from aqueous solution by the batch technique under different experimental controlling physicochemical parameters such as, initial pH of metal ion solution, contact time, nanocomposite dosage and initial metal ion concentration. The optimum sorption condition for La(III) as the target metal ion was identified at pH=1.0, 3.0 and 6.0. The adsorption process of La(III) was characterized to follow the postulates of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the adsorption mechanisms were identified to obey the pseudo-second order kinetic model based on the best compatible results with the experimental data.