Bio-inspired fabrication of Cu–ZrO2 nanocomposites for the remediation of Cr(VI) from water system

Abstract

In laboratory scale experiment, Cu–ZrO2 nanocomposite was synthesized using a leaf extract of Melia azedarach plant as a capping agent. The nanocomposite seems to be highly selective for the abolition of Cr(VI) from water system. The chemical compositions and morphology of nanocomposite has been inspected using Fourier transform infrared spectrogram (FTIR), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and electron dispersive X-ray (EDX). The adsorption mechanism ofCu-ZrO2 nanocomposite was extremely dependent onsolutionpH. The maximum adsorption for Cr(VI) was found at 2.0 pH. Approximately, 95% of Cr(VI)has been adsorbed using Cu–ZrO2 nanocomposite. The experimental data precisely follows Langmuir plot (R2 equal to 0.99). This indicates the single layer adsorption of Cr(VI). Kinetics study indicates the chemical nature of adsorption. Thermodynamic study corresponds to feasible, spontaneous, and endothermic adsorption.

Keywords

• Bio-synthesis
• Melia azedarach
• Nanocomposite
• Cr(VI)
• Adsorption