Synthesis of a Novel Adsorbing Agent by Coupling Chitosan, β-Cyclodextrin, and Cerium Dioxide: Evaluation of Hexavalent Chromium Removal Efficacy from Aqueous Solutions

The present study aimed at synthesizing a novel adsorbing agent by coupling chitosan, β-cyclodextrin, and cerium dioxide (Chit/β-CyD/Ce). Its efficiency towards the removal of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions was studied and compared to an adsorbent comprising of only chitosan and cerium dioxide. Batch water purification experiments in varying experimental conditions (initial adsorbent concentration 5–100 mg/L, adsorbate concentration 0.1–2 g/L, pH 2–11, and temperature 15–50 °C) were carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of both adsorbents. In all the experimental cases, the Chit/β-CyD/Ce adsorbent exhibited the higher efficacy. The optimum operating conditions were found to be at an initial adsorbent concentration of 2 g/L, pH = 3, and temperature of 50 °C, with the Chit/β-CyD/Ce adsorbent being able to fully remove Cr(VI) from solutions with up to 50 mg/L Cr(VI) at these conditions. The adsorption of hexavalent chromium onto both adsorbents occurs in a multilayer pattern of a heterogeneous surface following the Freundlich isotherm model. Furthermore, the adsorption process was exothermic and obeyed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, thus indicating the occurrence of chemisorption. Finally, FTIR, XRD, and SEM analyses were performed to characterize the synthesized adsorbents and verify the adsorption process.