Determination of the effect of iron oxide nanoparticle content in magnetic chitosan/calcium alginate hydrogel matrix on the removal of glyphosate from water.

Magnetic composite adsorbents using iron oxide nanoparticles have been produced in the past for glyphosate removal; however, the effect of the magnetic iron oxide content in the chitosan/calcium alginate hydrogel matrix on glyphosate removal efficiency has not been investigated. In this study, magnetic chitosan/calcium alginate hydrogel (MCAH) beads were synthesized according to our previous study with the same methodology with a magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (MIONP) content of 33%, 50%, and 60% (w/w). Iron content was analyzed by characterization study. The increasing iron weight percentage was detected at the magnetic beads with the FESEM-EDX analysis. The magnetism of the MCAH beads increased with the higher MIONP content according to VSM analysis. The surface area and porosity of MCAH beads decreased with MIONP content increase according to the BET analysis. The results showed that the higher MIONP content increases the reaction rate by 13 percent but does not change the resultant removal efficiency significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]