An investigation of heavy metal adsorption by hexa-dentate ligand-modified magnetic nanocomposites

Advancement of an efficient and cost-effective method for heavy metal removal from contaminated water utilising Fe₃O₄–APTES–EDTA (FAE) nanocomposite, a productive reusable adsorbent, is explained in this study. The novel FAE nanocomposite was prepared and characterised using different techniques such as FTIR, XRD, TEM, EDS, BET, TGA, EDX and Zeta potential techniques. FAE is found to be a good adsorbent for Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺ removal with a higher adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacity of Pb²⁺, Cd²⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺ and Cu²⁺ are found to be 11.31, 13.88, 7.64, 4.86 and 78.67 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption and desorption cycle was studied for five cycles with minimal loss of efficiency.