Production and characterization of composite nanoparticles derived from chitosan, CTAB and bentonite clay

In this study, the production and characterization of chitosan–cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)–sodium bentonite clay composite nanoparticles were carried out. The chitosan was produced from the underutilized shell wastes of Archachatina marginata through the processes of demineralization, deproteinization and deacetylation. The raw bentonite clay was beneficiated and found to a Ca-bentonite clay, which was modified to obtain Na-bentonite clay. The Na-bentonite clay was modified by the use of CTAB and the CTAB–sodium bentonite clay was impregnated on the prepared chitosan to obtain composite nanoparticles of chitosan–CTAB–sodium bentonite clay. The composite material was characterized using approaches of BET and cation exchange capacity and analytical techniques of energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electronic morphology (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The 3–p Toth isotherm ranked the best among the isotherms investigated for correlating the adsorption data of naphthalene on the synthesized nanoparticles of chitosan–CTAB–Na bentonite clay, with adsorption capacity of 625.501 mg/g. The efficacy of the chitosan–CTAB–sodium bentonite clay as adsorbent was demonstrated in the adsorption of naphthalene in contaminated aqueous solution by obtaining 99.15% removal of naphthalene. Hence, the composite nanoparticle obtained in this study is a viable alternative adsorbent for the treatment of industrial wastewater containing naphthalene.