Extraction and characterization of chitin and chitosan: Applications of chitosan nanoparticles in the adsorption of copper in an aqueous environment

Abstract

The main objective of the present work is to develop and characterize a new generation of adsorptive gelled porous bead supports made from nanoparticles of chitosan, bentonite and alginate. There were subsequently used in the purification of water synthetically polluted with cupric ions. The multiple experiments carried out on the adsorption of copper resulted in an equilibrium time reached after 10 min with an elimination percentage of 86%. Adsorption kinetics is better described by the expression of the second-order model whereas the adsorption isotherm is satisfactorily described by the Freundlich model. The different results showed the high affinity of the nanoparticle composite beads of chitosan/bentonite/alginate to cupric ions in an aqueous solution which is probably due to the presence of various chelating agents such as "NH, OH, COO-, and O" in their structure.