Preparation and testing of a tetra-amine copper(II) chitosan bead system for enhanced phosphate remediation.

A tetra-amine copper(II) chitosan bead system (TAC@CS composite beads) was developed by grafting tetra-amine copper(II) (TAC) with chitosan (CS) and utilized for phosphate removal. The prepared TAC@CS composite beads possess enhanced phosphate sorption capacity (SC) of 41.42 ± 0.071 mg/g than copper grafted chitosan (Cu@CS) composite, TAC and chitosan which were found to be 37.01 ± 0.803, 33.20 ± 0.650 and 7.24 ± 0.059 mg/g respectively. In batch mode, various adsorption influencing parameters like contact time, initial phosphate concentration, solution pH, co-anions and temperature were optimized for maximum phosphate sorption. The prepared adsorbents were characterized by FTIR, XRD, UV-Visible, SEM and EDAX analysis. The adsorption isotherms and thermodynamic parameters of the adsorbent were studied. The feasible phosphate uptake mechanism of TAC@CS biocomposite beads was reported. The reusability studies of TAC@CS composite beads were carried out using NaOH as elutant. The suitability of TAC@CS composite beads at field conditions was tested with phosphate contaminated field water samples collected from nearby areas of Dindigul district.