Ethylenediamine functionalized carbon nanoparticles: synthesis, characterization, and evaluation for cadmium removal from water

Abstract

This work illustrates the functionalization of glucose-derived carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) with ethylenediamine and their possible application in the removal of cadmium from water. A fast microwave assisted method was used to synthesise the CNPs resulting in good yields and an abundance of functional groups (carboxyl, hydroxyl groups etc.) which served as anchor sites for modification and adsorption. The pristine glucose-derived carbon nanoparticles (GCNPs) and functionalized CNPs (EDA–GCNPs) were characterised using TEM, BET, XRD, FTIR, surface charge and elemental analysis. Batch adsorption experiments were used to study the effect of factors such as pH, adsorbent dosage and the initial concentration of the metal ion of interest. From the adsorption studies, kinetics and sorption equilibrium were also studied, implying that both carbon nanoparticles could effectively remove cadmium through chemisorption (the data fitting a pseudo-second-order model), with maximum sorption capacities of 10.314 and 18.708 mg g⁻¹ for GCNPs and EDA–GCNPs, respectively.