Magnetization and functionalization of graphene oxide by chitosan
The discharge of heavy metals into water by industrial wastes produced by battery producers, chemical products produces (e.g. plastic, glass, ceramic), metallurgy plants, paint producers, farmers, mines and the like is one of the dire environmental hazards. This issue risks the general health of man and natural ecosystem [1, 2]. Lead cation in drinking water damages the liver, kidneys, nervous system, and reproduction system [3, 4]. Therefore, a large volume of the literature has been dedicated to removal of lead from water reservoirs.
There are a variety of techniques to remove heavy metals from waste water like membrane removal, coagulation, filtration, and surface adsorption [5]. The last technique is considered as a flexible method for designing processes featured with compatibility with a variety of adsorbents with large specific surface area, frequent deoxidization, and low price [6, 7].
The recent decades have witnessed an increase of using graphene nanocomposites as an adsorbent in surface adsorption process [8]. The unique characteristics like high solvability, high specific surface area, functional group with oxygen (e.g. hydroxyl, epoxy, carboxyl, and carbonyl) in graphene oxide (GO) structure make it a good choice as the nanostructure for nanocomposite structure [9, 10]. Magnetic separation technique (MST), by definition, is to use Fe4O4 nanoparticles on the structure of adsorbent with the ability to separate the adsorbent using an external magnetic field after the adsorption process. Using this technique in adsorption synthesis facilitates the separation process of the adsorbent after surface adsorption process [11].
Synthesis of nanostructures with predesigned molecular arrangement and using different processes of surface modification to achieve adsorption with higher adsorption performance are of the main focus areas of researchers [12]. In light of this, the adsorbent surface was improved using a biocompatible polymer known as chitosan with amino (-NH2) and hydroxyl (-OH) functional groups in the structure. Chitosan on the adsorbent surface increases removal performance [13-15]. In the final step of surface modification process, cysteine amino acid with thoil (-OH) functional group in its structure is used. This functional group (-SH) in cysteine structure improves adsorption of lead by the synthesized nano-composite [16].