Method development for flow adsorption and removal of lead and copper in contaminated water using electrospun nanofibers of chitosan blend

This study reports column flow adsorption capacity for Pb and Cu of 56.54 mgg ^-1 and 5.75 mgg ^-1, respectively, using electrospun nanofibers (70-264 nm) of chitosan:polyacrylamide blend ratio 77:23 with glutaraldehyde cross-linking. The Freundlich isotherms gave a better fit than Langmuir. The fibers were applied in contaminated pond water and pulp wastewater, for removal of Pb and Cu, with removal efficiencies of 100% (Pb) and 98.6% (Cu) in pond water; and 97.2% (Pb) and 99.5% (Cu) in wastewater. The regeneration efficiencies (recovery %) were 64% (Pb) and 89% (Cu) in pond; 72% (Pb) and 90% (Cu) for pulp, respectively, using an adsorbent mass of 0.05g.