A NOVEL COMPOSITE BY COATING ACORN SHELL (QUERCUS VULCANICA) WITH CHITOSAN FOR REMOVAL OF CR (VI) FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract: Water contamination raised with rapid and irregular industrialization growing, so elimination of Cr (VI) ions from contaminated water before discharge is vitally important. The purpose of this study; using acorn shell (AS) and Chitosan-coated acorn shell (CtsAS) as a biomaterial in the removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solutions. CtsAS composite was prepared by adding glutaraldehyde as a cross-linking agent and operational feasibility of CtsAS for Cr (VI) biosorption from aqueous environment was investigated by using different kinds of factors. The effects of contact time, initial solution pH, initial Cr (VI) concentration, and biosorbent amount on the elimination of Cr (VI) for AS and CtsAS composite were investigated by batch experiments. The biosorption system was tested using various isotherm models. The optimum conditions for the removal of Cr (VI) were found to be the amount of biosorbent 0.1 g, pH 2.0 and equilibrium time of 120 min for AS. On the other hand, the optimal conditions for the biosorption of Cr (VI) by CtsAS were found to be: 2.0-2.1 initial pH, 90 min of exposure duration, 0.05 g biosorbent amount, 150 mg/L of initial Cr (VI) concentration at 25 oC. The maximum biosorption capacity calculated from the Langmiur was found to be 89.29 mg/g and 44.25 mg/g for CtsAS and AS, respectively. The characterization of CtsAS and AS were performed using two techniques; Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The produced a novel CtsAS composite is offering an alternative biosorbent for Cr(VI) removal from aqueous mediums.