Biosynthesis and Analytical Characterization of Iron Oxide Nanobiocomposite for In-Depth Adsorption Strategy for the Removal of Toxic Metals from Drinking Water

Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-022-07477-y RESEARCH ARTICLE-CHEMISTRY Biosynthesis and Analytical Characterization of Iron Oxide Nanobiocomposite for In-Depth Adsorption Strategy for the Removal of Toxic Metals from Drinking Water Ashfaque Ali Bhutto1 · Jameel Ahmed Baig1 · Sirajuddin2 · Tasneem Gul Kazi1 · Reyes Sierra-Alvarez3 · Khalil Akhtar1 · Sajjad Hussain4 · Hassan Imran Afridi1 · Aysen Hol5 · Suraya Samejo1,5 Received: 31 August 2022 / Accepted: 9 November 2022 © King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2022 Abstract The biosynthesis of the iron oxide nanoparticles was done using Ixoro coccinea leaf extract, followed by the fabrication of iron oxide nanobiocomposites (I-Fe3 O4 -NBC) using chitosan biopolymer. Furthermore, the synthesized I-Fe3 O4 -NPs and I-Fe3 O4 -NBC were characterized, and I-Fe3 O4 -NBC was applied to remove toxic metals (TMs: Cd, Ni, and Pb) from water. The characterization study confirmed that the nanostructure, porous, rough, crystalline structure, and different functional groups of chitosan and I-Fe3 O4 -NPs in I-Fe3 O4 -NBCs showed their feasibility for the application as excellent adsorbents for quantitative removal of TMs. The batch mode strategy as feasibility testing was done to optimize different adsorption parameters (pH, concentrations of TMs, dose of I-Fe3 O4 -NBC, contact time, and temperature) for maximum removal of TMs from water by Fe3 O4 -NBC. The maximum adsorption capacities using nanocomposites for Cd, Ni, and Pb were 66.0, 60.0, and 66.4 mg g−1 , respectively. The adsorption process follows the Freundlich isotherm model by I-Fe3 O4 -NBC to remove Cd and Ni, while the Pb may be adsorption followed by multilayer surface coverage. The proposed adsorption process was best fitted to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics and showed an exothermic, favorable, and spontaneous nature. In addition, the I-Fe3 O4 -NBC was applied to adsorption TMs from surface water (%recovery > 95%). Thus, it can be concluded that the proposed nanocomposite is most efficient in removing TMs from drinking water up to recommended permissible limit. Keywords I-Fe3 O4 -NPs · I-Fe3 O4 -NBC · Adsorption · Toxic metals · Kinetics · Thermodynamics · Surface water 1 Introduction B Jameel Ahmed Baig Sirajuddin Tasneem Gul Kazi The quality of drinking water resources is continuously contaminated due to undesirable constituents [1]. The drinking water can be contaminated by industrialization, domestic and agricultural activities, and other environmental/global changes [2, 3]. Polluted water may contain several contaminants, especially toxic metals (TMs: Cd, Ni, and Pb). Reyes Sierra-Alvarez 1 Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro 76080, Pakistan Sajjad Hussain 2 ICCBS, HEJ, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan 3 Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0011, USA 4 Centre of Excellence in Solid State Physics, University of the Punjab, Lahore 05422, Pakistan 5 Chemistry Department, Pamukkale University, 20017 Denizli, Turkey Hassan Imran Afridi Aysen Hol Suraya Samejo 123 Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering These TMs are among the main inorganic pollutants produced by the electroplating, steel, and battery industries [4]. Moreover, these TMs may also remain in our surroundings for a longer time and leach into underground water and soil/land when in contact with them. It may lead to a potential threat to livings beings [5]. Purifying contaminated water (industrial, agricultural, and domestic wastewater) is the best strategy to reduce water pollution before discharging it into the environment [6]. Subsequently, these TMs bioaccumulate in the plants and enter the food chain. These TMs can cause various severe dysfunctions and cancer [7, 8]. The best management of polluted water is to purify the contaminated/polluted water before reuse/drain/escape. Various strategies have been employed to filter polluted water for decades, like membrane filtration [9], reverse osmosis [10], chemical precipitation [11], ion exchange [12], and adsorption [13]. Among these strategies, adsorption is the most efficient, attractive, economical, and practical purification strategy [14]. The adsorption process using different materials (adsorbents) is the most prominent treatment strategy based on its low cost and ease of operation [15, 16]. Natural adsorbents like zeolites, mesoporous silica, activated porous carbon, rice husk, and wood sawdust are used. Synthetic adsorbents such as alumina [17], zinc oxide [17], titanium dioxide [17], iron oxide nanoparticles [18], and other nanomaterials have been adopted for achieving the promising potential for environmental cleanup [14, 19]. Iron oxide nanoparticles (FeO-NPs) are attractive adsorbents for the TMs removal from contaminated drinking water [20]. It is because of their essential features like small size, high surface area, magnetic property, and reusability [21]. Moreover, FeO-NPs have significant variable oxidation states, crystal structures, low cost, magnetic properties, and environment-friendly nature [22]. Generally, FeO-NPs are synthesized using reactive and toxic reducing agents, i.e., sodium borohydride and hydrazine hydrate, which may cause undesired detrimental impacts on the environment, plants, animals, and human beings. Thus, it is a need of hours to develop facile, effective, and green chemical processes for their production [23]. Based on these facts, various microorganisms (actinomycetes, bacteria, fungi, algae, and viruses) were used to produce stable and well-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles as clean, eco-friendly, and sustainable precursors [24]. The cost of iron oxide nanoparticle production for consumers and industries must maintain a delicate balance between environmentally sound green processes and their sustainability. Thus, it is vitally important to explore a more reliable and sustainable process for synthesizing FeONPs. The synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles using plantderived chemicals is the most cost-effective. Plant extracts may include compounds that function as reducing and capping agents, such as organic acids, proteins, amino acids, 123 polysaccharides, terpenoids, aldehydes, ketones, and amides. These are reported for the size-controlled synthesis of nanoparticles [25, 26]. For example, the synthesis of Fe and Fe oxide NPs using extracts of different plants (e.g., Caricaya papaya, Azadirachta indica, Carob leaves, Ficus carica, Phyllanthus niruri, Platanus orientalis, and Citrus medica) [27–33] has been described and developed a facile method to fabricate metal oxide nanoparticles of different morphologies [34]. The green method can synthesize iron oxide nanoparticles by co-precipitation methods, which can then be used to remove TMs from aqueous solutions. This method does not require an organic solvent fo (...truncated)