Optimization, isotherm, kinetic and thermodynamic studies of Pb(II) ions adsorption onto N-maleated chitosan-immobilized TiO2 nanoparticles from aqueous media

• Statistical design for Pb2 + sorption onto MCS@TiO2 experiments is studied.
• Langmuir model was statistically proven to best fit the experimental data.
• Adsorption kinetic data are best modeled using second-order rate equations.
• Thermodynamics indicated endothermic feasible physisorption process.
• Recyclable MCS@TiO2 showed supreme sorption capacity for Pb(II) ions from wastewaters.

Chitosan, CS was chemically engineered by maleic anhydride via simple protocol to produce N-maleated chitosan, MCS which immobilized on anatase TiO2 to synthesize novel eco-friendly nanosorbent (51 ± 3.8 nm), MCS@TiO2 for cost-effective and efficient removal of Pb(II) ions from aqueous media. The chemical structure, surface properties and morphology of MCS@TiO2 were recognized by FTIR, 1H NMR, XRD, TEM, DLS and zeta-potential techniques. The relations between %removal of Pb(II) and different analytical parameters such as solution acidity (pH), MCS@TiO2 dosage, time of contact and initial Pb(II) concentration were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and Box–Behnken design (BBD) statistical procedures. The fitting of the experimental data to four different isotherm models at optimized conditions was carried out by various statistical treatments including the correlation coefficient (r), coefficient of determination (r2) and non-linear Chi-square (χ2) test analyses which all confirm the suitability of Langmuir model to explain the adsorption isotherm data. Also, statistics predicted that the pseudo-second-order model is the optimum kinetic model among four applied kinetic models to closely describe the rate equation of the adsorption process. Thermodynamics viewed the adsorption as endothermic and feasible physical process. EDTA could release the sorbed Pb(II) ions from MCS@TiO2 with a recovery above 92% after three sorption–desorption cycles. The novel synthesized nanosorbent is evidenced to be an excellent solid phase extractor for Pb(II) ions from wastewaters.

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