Chitosan/cellulose sulfate mesoporus microspheres for the adsorptive removal of pollutants from water

The discharge of effluents is steadily increasing, resulting in serious damages to the environment. Considerable attentions have been paid to magnetic bioadsorbent technology to solve these environmental problems because of their low cost and high efficiency. A thermally induced sol-gel transition process in ionic liquid was conducted to produce microspheres from chitosan and cellulose sulfate in order to develop a novel bioasorbant. The developed adsorbents were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). The adsorption performance was evaluated with a simulated waste water containing Congo red and heavy metals. Results indicated that the synthesized CHT-CS-Fe3O4 microspheres exhibited mesoporous property and a good sphericity with an approximate diameter of 20 mu m. The composite microsphere showed an excellent performance in removing the anion dye Congo red with removal efficiency of 68% and adsorbing divalent lead with the maximum adsorption capacity q(m) of 189 mg/g as well as removal efficiency of 93%. The material exhibited a highly selective property for the adsorption of different metals from the solution. These properties suggest that CHT-CS-Fe3O4 microspheres have the potential for application in water treatment.