Fabrication of cellulose-mediated chitosan adsorbent beads and their surface chemical characterization

The use of nontoxic, biodegradable and biocompatible biopolymers such as chitosan and cellulose is of considerable importance particularly in uptake of metal ions from the contaminated water systems. Current study was aimed to develop a chitosan-based biosorbent in combination with cellulose to form composite adsorbent beads. The developed composite beads were chemo-physically characterized using advanced analytical techniques of scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared, x-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis. The point of zero charge (PZC) of the developed beads was determined using the methods of salt addition, electrokinetic potential and the mass atitration. The average value of PZC of composite beads was found to be 7.26 using the said methods. On incorporating cellulose into chitosan, the thermal properties of the composite beads were considerably enhanced. The adsorption capacity of chitosan–cellulose beads was found to be 99.8, 79.98 and 99.10 mg/g for Ni(II), Cu(II) and Cr(III), respectively. The adsorption extent showed that the developed composite beads could be employed as adsorbent for wastewater treatment.