Performance of Chitosan Micro/Nanoparticles to Remove Hexavalent Chromium from Residual Water

Abstract

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is toxic to living systems and must be removed fromwastewater. Chitosan is a cationic, biocompatible, biodegradable, biopolymer obtained from marine wastes. The performance of chitosan particles (CH) and chitosan nanoparticles (CHN) to remove Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions is discussed in the present chapter. CHN were obtained by reticulation with tripolyphosphate (TPP),and physico-chemically characterized. The performance of CHN decreased at higher pH due to the cross-linking process with TPP. Langmuir isotherm described the equilibrium adsorption values and pseudo-second order rate provided the best fitting to the kinetic data. Chemical analysis to determine the oxidation state of the adsorbed Cr, showed that Cr(VI) was adsorbed on CH particles without further reduction; in contrast Cr(VI) removed from the solution was reduced and bound to the CHN as Cr(III). Chitosan crosslinking was essential to adsorb Cr(VI) at pH<3 due to the dissolution of CH in acid media.