g-C3N4 based Chitosan Schiff base bio Nanocomposite for water purification

A novel adsorbent material for the removal of Copper and chromium metal ions from aqueous solution was prepared by modifying chitosan. Cross linked chitosan material was prepared using vanillin as a crosslinking agent and further it was incorporated with graphitic-C3N4 to obtain the polymeric matrix. The composite material thus obtained was characterized using various characterization techniques such as FTIR, TGA, SEM and XRD. A peak at 1658 cm−1 indicates the formation of Schiff base and the peaks at 2θ = 9°, 15°, 21° and 24° indicates the incorporation of g-C3N4 and the increased crytallinity of the composite material. Adsorption studies were done in order to obtain the maximum capacity of the adsorbent for the Copper and Chromium ions which were found to be 166.66 and 250 mgg−1 respectively. The adsorption isotherm best fitted a Langmuir model and the adsorptive process was found to have pseudo second-order kinetics showing the chemical sorption type. Thermodynamic studies indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic in nature.