Difunctional chitosan-stabilized Fe/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles for removal of hexavalent chromium wastewater

Bimetallic Fe/Cu nanoparticles were successfully stabilized by chitosan used for remediating hexavatlent chromium contaminated wasterwater. However, the over-loaded chitosan on the surface of Fe/Cu particles limited the Cr(VI) reduction due to the occupation of the surface reactive sites. Weighing the colloid stability and the reduction reactivity, the optimal dosage of chitosan is 2.0 wt% and the optimal Cu doping dosage is 3.0 wt%. SEM and TEM images showed that the chitosan-stabilized Fe/Cu bimetallic nanoparticles (CS-Fe/Cu nanoparticles) were uniformly dispersed, which had loose and porous surface. FTIR characterization showed that the binding sites of nZVI and chitosan. XRD demonstrated that the presence of copper and chitosan did not change the existence form of zero-valent iron. Most importantly, the contribution of chitosan and Cu in the removal mechanism was studied by the reduction experiments and the XPS analysis. On the one hand, chitosan could effectively combine with Cr(VI) due to chelation, on the other hand, Cu played an important role in the precipitation and coprecipitation phenomena. These findings indicate that CS-Fe/Cu has the potential to be a promising material for wastewater treatment.