LAUSR

Abstract In this study, novel selenium nanoparticles (Se NPs) were synthesized based on cross-linked Se-chitosan/L-cysteine nanoparticles and used for the efficient removal of patulin from an aqueous solution. Different functional groups at the surface of these cross-linked Se NPs interacted with patulin and remove it in the contaminated juice simulator solution (pH = 3.8). FT-IR and SEM analyses of synthesized NPs properly showed the synthesis of Se-chitosan/L-cysteine NPs. The effect of nanoparticle type (Se NPs, Se-chitosan NPs, Se-L-cysteine NPs and Se-chitosan/L-cysteine NPs), contact time (10 to 210 min), initial concentration of patulin (50 to 150 μg/L), and nanoparticle amount (1 to 9 mg) on patulin adsorption were evaluated. The results indicated that 98% adsorption of patulin was achieved after 150 min by using 5 mg Se-chitosan/L-cysteine NPs in a juice simulator with 50 μg/L patulin. In cases of the kinetic model and isotherm model, pseudo-first-order (R2= 0.978) and Freundlich isotherm (R2= 0.999) were applied to explain the process of patulin adsorption, respectively. Moreover, the proposed NPs were an appropriate adsorbent for the removal of patulin from contaminated apple juice. The results confirmed the advantages of Se-chitosan/L-cysteine NPs and its promising use as an effective patulin adsorbent in aqueous solutions.