LAUSR

A chitosan polymer was magnetized by coating with magnetite Fe2O3 nanoparticles, and the resultant material (C-Fe2O3) was first characterized through scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, thermogravimetric, X-ray diffractometry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, and point of zero charge analyses. C-Fe2O3 was then employed as a separable and efficient adsorptive agent to remove acid blue 113 (AB113) dye from aqueous solution. The removal efficiency was optimized at different environmental parameter values (pH 3–11, C-Fe2O3 dose: 0.1–1 g/L, initial AB113 dye concentration: 10–100 mg/L, adsorption time: 0–300 min, and temperature: 15–45 °C). Under optimum conditions, an AB113 dye removal efficiency of 99.68% was achieved. In addition, the effect of the presence of NaCl, NaNO3, Na2CO3, and MgSO4 ions on the AB113 dye removal efficiency could be ranked as NaCl > NaNO3 > MgSO4 > Na2CO3. The statistical analysis using the coefficient of determination, root mean square error, chi-square test, sum of squared errors, and average relative error showed that the Freundlich and pseudo-second-order equations were the best mathematical models for fitting the isothermal and kinetics data. Further kinetics analyses showed that the adsorption of AB113 molecules on C-Fe2O3 active sites was dominated by the intraparticle diffusion process. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that the AB113 dye adsorption process was favorable, endothermic, and spontaneous. Furthermore, an increase in temperature had a positive impact on AB113 dye removal. The regeneration study confirmed the excellent shelf life of C-Fe2O3, with only a slight loss in the removal efficiency (< 7%) being detected after six operational cycles of AB113 dye adsorption. Compared with other adsorbents, C-Fe2O3 was more effective for the adsorption of AB113 dye, with an adsorption uptake up to 128 mg/g.