New chitosan/silica/zinc oxide nanocomposite as adsorbent for dye removal

Abstract Chitosan/silica hybrid was used for zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles immobilization to form chitosan/silica/ZnO nanocomposite. This nanocomposite was utilized to eliminate methylene blue (MB) from wastewater. The effect of ZnO immobilization on the adsorption properties of the nanocomposite was studied in details. The best interpretation for the equilibrium data was given by Langmuir isotherm, and the highest adsorption capacity of MB reached to 293.3 mg/g in slight basic medium. As an effective and low-cost adsorbent, chitosan/silica/ZnO nanocomposite is expected to have a promising future for adsorption of organic dyes from their aqueous solutions.