Synthesis of Magnetite Nanocomposite with Ability to Remove Pb2+ ions from Aqueous Solutions

Contamination resulted by toxic metal ions has been a major environmental problem since the development of industry. Pb2+ is one of the most toxic metal ions, which can accumulate in human body and cause serious damages to the hematopoietic and cardiovascular systems [1]. There are many chemical and physical processes to remove heavy metal ions from water. Of these, adsorption is one of the most promising technologies due to its high removal efficiency, simplicity and availability of low-cost adsorbents which can be found locally [2].Encapsulation of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in polymeric structures prevents direct contact of magnetic substance with the environment and leads to its improved colloidal and chemical stability and reduces its toxicity for removal of heavy metal ions. Modification of the nanoparticle surface develops its applications in a wide variety of fields such as adsorption purposes [3]. Magnetic-core and polymer-shell configuration synergistically combines the multiple advantages of MNPs and the polymer. In the present study, a novel magnetic nanoadsorbent was synthesized by grafting of poly(acrylamide) onto the surface ofmodified Fe3O4 nanoparticles. For this purpose firstly the nanoparticle surface was modified through silylation reaction with 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES).Then The terminal amino groups were then reacted with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) to generate the vinyl-containing moieties on the nanoparticle surface. Finally, acrylamide (AAm) was polymerized on the surface of vinyl-containing nanoparticles to prepare the final nanoadsorbent. The adsorbent was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM).The synthesized nanoadsorbent exhibited high adsorption affinity for Pb2+ in aqueous media.