Magnetic nanopore composite beads for simultaneous removal of organic and inorganic pollutants in highly acidic water

Abstract

A novel magnetic nanocomposite bead was synthesised for the simultaneous removal of cationic, anionic and organic pollutants removal in highly acidic water. Copper, chromium (III), phosphate and toluene were used as representative cationic, anionic and organic pollutants respectively. A 3:4:1 aspect ratio (alginate: nanocomposite: xanthan gum) was used for the beads. The magnetic nanocomposite was characterised using, FT-IR, SEM – EDX and XRD. The beads showed greater removal percentage for phosphate at (97.8 %), followed by copper and chromium at 81.8 % and 81.1 % respectively and toluene also at 81.8 %. Isothermal study showed that both the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were the governing equations for sorption with a more perfect fit for the Freundlich isotherm. Pseudo-second-order model was the governing equation for sorption. This sorbent showed great potential to be used for simultaneous removal of cationic, anionic and organic pollutants removal in water.