Performance of ceria/iron oxide nano-composites based on chitosan as an effective adsorbent for removal of Cr(VI) and Co(II) ions from aqueous systems.

A novel chitosan/ceria/iron oxide (CS/ceria/FeO) nano-composite adsorbent was synthesized for removal of Cr(VI) and Co(II) ions from aqueous systems in a batch system. The adsorbents were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Brunauer- Emmett-Teller (BET) analyses. The behavior of swelling kinetics was also studied.