Alginate-Zr (IV) phosphate nanocomposite ion exchanger: Binary separation of heavy metals, photocatalysis and antimicrobial activity

- A simple sol gel method to prepare alginate-Zr(IV) phosphate nanocomposite (AG/ZPNC) ion exchanger is proposed.
- Different physical and chemical properties of AG/ZPNC were studied.
- Some binary separations of heavy metals were achieved on the column of AG/ZPNC.
- AG/ZPNC degrades the organic dyes such as FG and MB effectively from aqueous media.
- AG/ZPNC exhibits remarkable antimicrobial activity against E. coli.

The present study explored alginate-Zr(IV) phosphate nanocomposite (AG/ZPNC) ion exchanger for the separation of heavy metals, removal of organic and microbial contaminants from water system. The structural properties were determined by different techniques such as FTIR, SEM, TEM and XRD. Physicochemical analysis such as effect of eluent concentration, elution behaviour, thermal studies, pH titration study and distribution studies of AG/ZPNC was also studied. The nanocompositeion exchanger was found highly selective for Al3+ metal ions with highest Kd value. Binary separations were achieved for different metal ions onto column of AG/ZPNC. Photocatalytic activity showed that 97.45% of methylene blue (MB) and 92.43% of fast green (FG) was degraded within 5 h on solar irradiation using nanocomposite. The kinetics of photodegradation of MB and FG is described by pseudo-first order kinetic model. The value of regression coefficient (0.997) was found higher for MB as compare to FG (0.942). The antibacterial activity indicated prompt effect against E. coli.

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