Crosslinked Electro-Spun Chitosan Nanofiber Mats with Cd(II) as Template Ions for Adsorption Applications

The Cd(II) ion imprinting electro-spun crosslinked chitosan nanofiber mats were successfully prepared using Cd(II) as template ions and glutaraldehyde (GA) as crosslinker to investigate the adsorption of Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions in aqueous solutions. The Cd(II) ion imprinting electro-spun crosslinked chitosan nanofiber mats were characterized by the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA), elemental analysis and solubility tests. The prepared chitosan nanofiber mats exhibited a higher adsorption capacity for both Cd(II) (364.3 mg/g) and Pb(II) (272.0 mg/g) ions. The dynamic study demonstrated that the adsorption process followed the second-order kinetic equation. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were used to analyze the equilibrium isotherm data. The results showed that the Langmuir model was best suitable for predicting the adsorption isotherm of the studied system. The as prepared Cd(II) ion imprinting electro-spun crosslinked chitosan nanofiber mats might be used as an effective adsorbent for Cd(II) and Pb(II) removal from heavy metal wastewater.