Preparation of Amberlite IRN 77 Ion Exchange Resin Loaded with Magnetite Nanoparticles for Cr(III) Removal from Aqueous Solution

A hybrid adsorbent named magnetite nanoparticles coated resin (IRN77-Fe_3O_4) has been developed for chromium removal by an oxidative hydrolysis of iron(II) sulphate hydrate in alkaline media with addition of Amberlite IRN 77 cation exchange resin. The characterization of the modified resin was performed using Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier- transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Batch adsorption experiments under various conditions, such as time, temperature, pH and amount of adsorbent were carried out to evaluate the adsorption characteristics of magnetite-loaded resin in the removal of Cr(III) from aqueous solutions. The adsorption of Cr(III) on modified resin was found to obey the Langmuir adsorption isotherm with maximum adsorption capacity of 32.72 mg/g, which much higher than unmodified resin (23.87 mg/g) under the same optimum conditions. Therefore, it was proven that modification of ion exchange resin with magnetite nanoparticles significantly improves the adsorption performance for Cr(III) removal.