Amino-functionalized magnetic bacterial cellulose/activated carbon composite for Pb2+ and methyl orange sorption from aqueous solution

A new nanostructured amino-functionalized magnetic bacterial cellulose/activated carbon (BC/AC) composite bioadsorbent (AMBCAC) was prepared for removal of Pb2+ and methyl orange (MO) from aqueous solution. The results demonstrated that the equilibrium adsorption capacity (qe) for Pb2+ obviously increases by 2.14 times after introduction of amino groups, the optimum pH for Pb2+ and MO adsorption was 5.0 and 3.0, respectively, and the qe of AMBCAC was 161.78 mg g−1 for Pb2+ and 83.26 mg g−1 for MO under the optimal conditions in this investigation. The kinetics and adsorption isotherm data of the sorption process were well fitted by pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm respectively. The thermodynamic results (the Gibbs free energy change ΔG < 0, the enthalpy change ΔH > 0, the entropy change ΔS > 0) implied that the adsorption process of Pb2+ and MO was feasible, endothermic and spontaneous in nature. These results support that the AMBCAC composite developed in this work can provide a cheap and efficient way for easy removal of both Pb2+ and MO as a promising adsorbent candidate for wastewater treatment.