Imprinting “Nano-SiO2-Crosslinked Chitosan-Nano-TiO2” Polymeric Nanocomposite for Selective and Instantaneous Microwave-Assisted Sorption of Hg(II) and Cu(II)

An imprinting polymeric nanocomposite-like structure was synthesized by bonding crosslinked chitosan to nano-SiO2 and nano-TiO2 simultaneously via bifunctional glutaraldehyde linker. The structure of this “nano-SiO2-crosslinked chitosan-nano-TiO2” nanocomposite was confirmed and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The surface area (6.47 cm3 g–1), porosity (0.193 cm3 g–1), and particle size (14–40 nm) were confirmed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) studies, and surface area measurements. This nanocomposite announced selective and enhanced sorption for Hg and Cu ions with high performance using microwave techniques. Different factors that affected the metal sorption capacity were monitored, including microwave-contact time, pH, nanocomposite dosage, temperature, and initial metal concentration. Maximum capacity values of 8000 and 4000 μmol g–1...