Fabrication of Cellulose Acetate/Iron Oxide Electrospun Nanocomposite as a New Sorbent for Removal of Arsenic from Aqueous Solution

In this study, iron oxide/cellulose acetate nanocomposite was prepared by electrospinning method and its performance was evaluated for removal of arsenic. Here, oleic acid coated magnetite nanoparticle was synthesized by co-precipitation method and was impregnated in cellulose acetate solution. This magnetite impregnated polymer solution, was electrospun to form nanocomposite polymer fiber. The cellulose acetate/iron oxide nanocomposite membrane was characterized by SEM and FTIR. The magnetic properties of composite nanofibers were characterized by using vibrational sample magnetometry analysis. The nanocomposite was used to remove arsenic ions from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to study the sorption behavior of arsenic ions as a function of pH, contact time and initial concentration. Experimental results showed that the maximum capacity of the cellulose acetate-iron oxide nanocomposite membrane for removal of arsenic from low concentration is 0.36 mg/g at pH 9. For better investigation of the adsorption mechanism, two isotherm models, Langmuir and Freundlich were tested. Based on the isothermal results, adsorption data were fitted well to Langmuir isotherm. The reusability of the nanocomposite membrane was confirmed for several adsorption and desorption processes by acid-alkali treatment.