Abstract:
Hexavalent Chromium (Cr(VI)) is essential in many industrial processes. However, it finds its way into
water bodies, posing health problems, including lung cancer and the inhibition of DNA and RNA in
biological systems. Several chemical and traditional water purification methods have been developed
in the past, but most are expensive, tedious and ineffective. This study aimed to prepare and characterize a low-cost hybrid adsorbent, b-Cyclodextrin capped magnetic nanoparticles anchored on a cellulosic matrix (CNC-Fe3O4NP-CD). The characterization techniques confirmed the integration of CNCs,
Fe3O4NP and CD into the prepared CNC-Fe3O4NP-CD nanocomposite adsorbent. The adsorbent was
employed in batch adsorption experiments by varying adsorption parameters, including solution pH,
adsorbent dosage, initial Cr(VI) concentration, and contact time. From the findings, the nanocomposite adsorbent achieved a maximum Cr(VI) removal efficiency of 97.45%, while the pseudo-secondorder kinetic model best fitted the experimental data with high linear regression coefficients (R2 >
0.98). The Elovich model indicated that the adsorption process was driven by chemisorption on heterogeneous surface sites, with initial sorption rates surpassing desorption rates. These findings established that CNC-Fe3O4NP-CD presents high efficiency for Cr(VI) removal under acidic pH, offering the
potential for optimization and application in real-world wastewater treatment.
