Document Abstract
The magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were functionalized with glycine at pH 6. The glycine
functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (GFMNPS) were then entrapped into alginate polymer as
beads and used as adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II) ions. The developed adsorbents were
characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer and
scanning electron microscopic analysis. The surface of beads contain amino and carboxylate
groups which make them effective adsorbents for the removal of Pb(II) ions. The adsorption of
Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution was found to be highly pH dependent. 92.8% Pb(II) was
removed just in 10 min. The kinetic data fitted well with pseudo second order model and the
equilibrium reached in 100 min with 99.8% removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution. The
adsorption isotherm strictly followed Langmuir model with the maximum adsorption capacity of
555.5 mg/g of the adsorbent. The thermodynamic study confirmed that the adsorption was
spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The adsorbent could be regenerated four times simply by
0.2 M HNO3 retaining 90% of the adsorption capacity. The synthesized adsorbent was found to
be eco-friendly, cost-effective, efficient and superior over other polymer based adsorbents for
removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution.