Removal of lead ions (Pb<SUP>2+</SUP>) from aqueous solution using chitosan/starch composite material: Experimental and density functional theory findings

Treatment of wastewater has become vital to prevent environmental pollution in recent years. Adsorption is an easily applicable, low-cost and efficient method and is the subject of this study. In this study, an adsorbent was synthesized to be used in heavy metal removal using chitosan and starch. The composite was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. It was determined that the composite had an amorphous and compact structure. Adsorption experiments were carried out under the optimized parameters such as solution pH, concentration, adsorbent amount, equilibrium time, and temperature. It shows that during adsorption, with the increase in pH, the adsorption efficiency and adsorption capacity first increase and then a fluctuation occurs. The highest adsorption efficiency and Q value were reached at pH 3.46 as 78% and 0.038 mol/kg, respectively. Moreover, the adsorption capacity (Q) reached its highest value with a value of 0.067 mol/kg in the presence of 30 mg adsorbent. Equilibrium experiments were validated by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models. To investigate the adsorption mechanism, pseudo-first-order (PFO) and pseudo-second-order (PSO) kinetic models were used. It was determined that the adsorption process followed the D-R isotherm (R-2 = 0.99) and PSO (R-2 = 0.99). Therefore, the existence of chemical adsorption can be mentioned. Thermodynamic parameters enthalpy (Delta H), Gibbs free energy (Delta G) and entropy change (Delta S) were investigated. The adsorbate-adsorbent interactions were studied by density functional theory (DFT).