Nanomagnetite-loaded poly (acrylamide-co-itaconic acid) hydrogel as adsorbent for effective removal of Mn2+ from contaminated water

The present research focuses on the adsorptive efficiency of nanomagnetite-loaded poly (acrylamide-co-itaconic acid) hydrogel for manganese removal from aqueous and contaminated solution by batch as well as column adsorption technique. The influence of pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, temperature, metal ion concentration, bed depth, feed flow rate and inlet metal ion concentration on the sensitivity of the removal process was inspected. The copolymer was synthesized and magnetized insitu. The sorption data was analyzed and fitted to linearized adsorption isotherm of the Langmuir and Freundlich equations, respectively. Equilibrium data fitted very well to the Freundlich model. The kinetics of sorption was analyzed using pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. Kinetic parameters, rate constants, equilibrium sorption capacities, and related correlation coefficients for each kinetic model were calculated. Different thermodynamic parameters i.e. G(0), H-0, and S-0 were also evaluated which proved the sorption to be feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic in nature. This hydrogel has been found to be an efficient adsorbent for manganese removal from water (>99% removal) and could be regenerated efficiently for further experiments.