Removing lead from water with carboxylate dendrimers and magnetic nanoparticles modified with carboxylate dendrimers

Abstract Contamination of water with heavy metals as lead (Pb2+) is a relevant problematic issue. In this work, we have tested different types of dendritic materials for lead removal from water and further recovery. The systems employed are magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) modified with monocarboxylate and dendritic carboxylate ligands, and they are compared to pristine MNP and carbosilane dendrimers. They are all effective at removing Pb2+, but the key variations are in their recyclability. The usage of a filtering membrane was required for dendrimers, which was significantly degraded by the acidic media. In terms of MNP, those that were covered by dendritic molecules were clearly less damaged in acidic media. Finally, isotherm analysis revealed that Pb2+ interacts differently with unmodified and modified MNP.