Preparation of amino terminated polyamidoamine functionalized chitosan beads and its Cr(VI) uptake studies

Chitosan beads, functionalized by amino terminated hyperbranched dendritic polyamidoamine (up to 3rd generation) were prepared by Michael addition of methyl acrylate to amino groups on the chitosan surface and amidation of terminal ester groups by ethylene diamine. All the three generation chitosan beads were used for chromium removal along with raw chitosan beads. However, the 3rd generation polyamidoamine chitosan beads (3ACB) have been protonated using HCl (3ACBP)/loaded with zirconium using ZrOCl2·8H2O (3ACBZr) to enhance the sorption capacity towards Cr(VI). The zirconium loaded chitosan beads showed higher Cr(VI) sorption than the other modified chitosan beads. The zirconium loaded chitosan beads were characterized using SEM, EDAX, FT-IR, XRD, DSC and TGA. The system variables studied include agitation time, initial concentration of sorbate, pH, co-ions in the medium and temperature on the sorption of chromium. The chromium uptake onto 3ACBZr obeys the Freundlich isotherm. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the nature of chromium sorption is spontaneous and endothermic. The mechanism of chromium sorption onto the sorbent was established.