Magnetic Nanoparticles Derivatized with both Functional Moieties for the Recovery of Heavy Metal Ions in Environmental Water

Heavy metal ions are increasingly being released into environment, leading to serious pollution and significant health problems to human being. To address the adverse effects posed by them, in the present study, a remediation method by magnetic nanoparticles was proposed. The magnetic particles were synthesized by a solvothermal process first. Then they were derivatized with dual functional moieties of amino- and mercapto- by reacting with aminopropyl-triethoxysilane and mercaptopropyl-triethoxysilane simultaneously. The prepared material was characterized by infrared spectrometry and elemental analysis. Both functional groups of amino- and mercapto- were present within the material. Since amino- and mercapto- have high affinity for heavy metal ions, the material can be used to retrieve these ions from water samples. Pb2+ and Mn2+ were used as model analytes to evaluate the effectiveness of the material. It is found that, after 60 min adsorption, the ions were almost total removed from the sample solution.