Epichlorohydrin cross-linked carboxymethyl cellulose microspheres (ECH/CMC) obtained by inverse suspension method and magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles encasing the ECH/CMC microspheres (M-ECH/CMC) obtained by two different methods were successfully prepared and compared. Their structures and morphologies were analyzed using polarizing microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The adsorption behaviors of M1-ECH/CMC for methylene blue (MB) in the single cationic dye wastewater, the cationic/anionic dye mixture in the absence or presence of co-existed additives (salt and surfactant) wastewater, were also investigated with UV-vis spectrometer. The results showed that the magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were loaded readily in situ into ECH/CMC by specific, chemical interactions between COO- groups of ECH/CMC and magnetic responsive Fe3O4. The Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic model provide best correlation with the experimental data for the adsorption of MB onto ECH/CMC and M1-ECH/CMC microspheres, while the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-first-order kinetic model for M2-ECH/CMC. These microspheres are easily recyclable and exhibit high desorption and adsorption, which suggests that they can be applied as potential environmental adsorbents.
Keywords: Adsorption; carboxymethyl cellulose; epichlorohydrin; magnetic microsphere; methylene blue; recyclable.