A facile synthesis of Chitosan Supramolecularly cross-linked with Trimesic Acid (CTMA) is reported in this work. The adsorption potential of CTMA for removal of hexavalent chromium was evaluated and the influence of pH, temperature, contact time and adsorbent dose on the adsorption process was investigated. The experimental results showed that CTMA could efficiently adsorb Cr6+ and partially reduce it to the less toxic Cr3+ state. The maximum adsorption capacity of CTMA for Cr6+ was found to be 129.53mg/g at pH 2.0. CTMA and chromium loaded CTMA were characterised by FT-IR, Raman, TGA-DSC, SEM-EDX, XRD, ESR and XPS spectroscopic techniques. Chitosan was observed to be cross- linked with TMA via ionic, hydrogen bonding and pi-pi supramolecular interactions while adsorption of chromium onto CTMA was by electrostatic forces and hydrogen bonding. From the observed results it was evident that CTMA was successfully applied for simultaneous removal of chromium, lead and iron from chrome plating effluent.
Keywords: CTMA; Chitosan; Chromium; Iron; Lead.
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