PERFORMANCE OF CHITOSAN MICRO/NANOPARTICLES TO REMOVE HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM FROM RESIDUAL WATERS

DIMA, J. B.; SEQUEIROS, C.; ZARITZKY, N. D.

Buenos Aires

Workshop; II Workshop on Bio-degradable Polymers and Biocomposites; 2015

Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales UNMDP-CONICET y el Instituto de Tecnología en Polímeros y Nanotecnologia UBA-CONICET

Water contamination with heavy metals is a critical problem because metals tend to persist and accumulate in the environment. Cr (VI) is a metal toxic to living systems and must be removed from wastewater before it can be discharged. The permissible limit is 0.1 mg/L [1-3]. Chitosan (CH), has been used for remove chromium from aqueous solutions. The adsorption of a metal ion on CH depends strongly on the pH of the solution [1-2]. In recent years, research has been performed on novel adsorbents to maximize their adsorptive capacity; chemical and physical modifications of CH have been used to increase the stability of the polymer and to improve its functionality [1-3]. The objectives are: a) to obtain chitosan particles (CH) from seafood processing wastes; b) to synthesize reticulated chitosan micro/nanoparticles (MCH) by ionic cross-linking of CH with TPP, (tripolyphosphate); c) to analyze the performance of MCH and CH particles, in the adsorption process of Cr (IV) at different pH values, initial chromium concentrations and contact times; d) to model mathematically the equilibrium isotherms and adsorption kinetics.