Synthesis of Quercetin Loaded Nanoparticles Based on Alginate for Pb(II) Adsorption in Aqueous Solution

Pb(II) is a representative heavy metal in industrial wastewater, which may frequently cause serious hazard to living organisms. In this study, comparative studies between alginate nanoparticles (AN) and quercetin-decorated alginate nanoparticles (Q-AN) were investigated for Pb(II) ion adsorption. Characterization of AN and Q-AN were analysed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTG-DSC). The main operating conditions such as pH, initial concentration of Pb(II), and co-existing metal ions were also investigated using a batch experiment. AN and Q-AN, with a diameter of 95.06 and 58.23 nm, were constituted by many small primary nanoparticles. It revealed that when initial concentration of Pb(II) is between 250 and 1250 mg L(−1), the adsorption rate and equilibrium adsorption were increased with the increase of pH from 2 to 7. The maximum adsorption capacities of 147.02 and 140.37 mg L(−1) were achieved by AN and Q-AN, respectively, with 0.2 g adsorbents in 1000 mg L(−1) Pb(II) at pH 7. The adsorption rate of Pb(II) was little influenced by the co-existing metal ions, such as Mn(II), Co(II), and Cd(II). Desorption experiments showed that Q-AN possessed a higher desorption rate than AN, which were 90.07 and 83.26 %, respectively. AN and Q-AN would probably be applied as adsorbents to remove Pb(II) and then recover it from wastewater for the advantages of simple preparation, high adsorption capacity, and recyclability.