Adsorption of Pb(II) and Cd(II) by magnetic chitosan-salicylaldehyde Schiff base: Synthesis, characterization, thermal study and antibacterial activity

Abstract

In this paper, new magnetic chitosan-salicylaldehyde Schiff base (ChS@Fe2O3) was prepared and characterized by FT-IR, DSC, XRD, VSM and SEM and utilized as an efficient sorbent for the removal of Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions from aqueous solution. Moreover, the effect of solution pH, Pb(II) and Cd(II) initial concentration, adsorbent dosage and contact time on the adsorption process was examined thoroughly and optimized. Also, the adsorbent reusability and adsorption mechanism were studied. The sorption capacity of Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions at optimum condition was found to be 135.8 and 114.8 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption efficiency of ChS@Fe2O3 remained above 88 and 72%, respectively for Pb(II) and Cd(II) ions. Finally, antibacterial activities evaluation of ChS@Fe2O3 were conducted against S. aureus, B. cereus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa bacteria strains. The results exhibited the high activity against all bacteria strains.