Preparation of chitosan-like magnetic composite microspheres and their adsorption properties for Cu (II)

The novel magnetic composite microspheres (Fe3O4/HAD-C) coated with Fe3O4 were fabricated by inverse suspension cross-linking method, where glutaraldehyde was used as a crosslinking agent. Magnetic Fe3O4 particles and Hexamethylene Diamine Cellulose was prepared respectively by the chemical coprecipitation method and grafting amino group onto microcrystalline Cellulose. The scanning electron microscope, laser particle size analyzer, X-ray diffractometer, and thermogravimetric analyzer were used to characterize the magnetic Fe3O4/HAD-C composite microspheres. The findings demonstrate that the Fe3O4/HAD-C composite microspheres were spherical and well dispersed with the size range between 0.3 μm and 1.2 μm, and possessed super paramagnetic property with 39.72 emu·g−1. The mass of Fe3O4 in the composite is about 37.11 %. By using an adsorption study, the removal of Cu (II) from heavy metal wastewater by Fe3O4/HAD-C was examined. The findings showed that the composite microsphere made of Fe3O4/HAD-C effectively absorbed Cu (II). The entire adsorption procedure follows the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model and pseudo-second order kinetics. Fe3O4/HAD-C also had high reusability and stability. Even after 5 cycles of adsorption and desorption, Fe3O4/HAD-C still achieve 32.45 mg g−1. Environmentally friendly and effective, the unique magnetic chitosan-like composite microspheres (Fe3O4/HAD-C) developed in this study.