Abstract
Durable low-cost biosorbents possessing fast kinetics toward Fe(III) adsorption from aqueous solutions were fabricated by immobilizing cellulose with 8-hydroxyquinoline after grafting with glycidylmethacrylate and then treated with ethylene diamine in natural and magnetic forms to obtain R1 and R2, respectively. BET surface area measurements showed that magnetic R2 resin possesses the highest surface area (139.04 m
2
.g
−1
) when compared with cellulose (21.7 m
2
.g
−1
) or R1 (39.03 m
2
.g
−1
). Kinetic studies conducted using batch experiments showed that R2 possesses the highest uptake capacity (2.8 mmol · g
−1
) at pH = 2.5 with relatively fast kinetics. The adsorption process was found to fit well the pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that the adsorption process has an endothermic spontaneous nature with increase in entropy. R2 resin may be applicable in the field of drinking water purification, especially from Fe(III) ions.