Study on Adsorption Properties of New Sodium Alginate and Chitosan Quaternary Ammonium Salt for Heavy Metal Ions

Abstract

Up against accelerating industrialization, heavy metal pollution has been a global environmental problem. Hence, it is urgent to develop high-efficiency, low-cost and environmentally friendly heavy metal adsorption materials. This study aims to explore sodium alginate and chitosan quaternary ammonium salt (Alg/HTACC), a new biosorption material, and evaluate its adsorbability for heavy metal ions. Alg/HTACC is prepared by solution mixing, with its structure and morphology characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Alg/HTACC is porous in structure, which is beneficial to improving the capture capacity of metal ions. As for the study of adsorption properties, the adsorption behavior of Alg/HTACC for many heavy metal ions such as Cu²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Pb²⁺ is systematically investigated. According to experimental results, Alg/HTACC has a good adsorption effect on these metal ions. The regeneration ability and recycling potential evaluated by desorption experiments on saturated Alg/Alg/HTACC still maintain high adsorption efficiency, which proves its good usability.