Preparation of bio-inspired trimethoxysilyl group terminated poly(1-vinylimidazole)-modified-chitosan composite for adsorption of chromium (VI) ions

Chitosan and poly(1-vinylimidazole) are both potential adsorbents to remove Cr(VI). Here, we designed the preparation of new adsorbents by combining chitosan and poly(1-vinylimidazole) to get the synergistic effect for the removal of hexavalent chromium. Trimethoxysilyl group terminated poly(1-vinylimidazole)-modified-chitosan composite was successfully synthesized by one-step free radical polymerization based on the grafting backbone of chitosan and vinylimidazole. The resulting adsorbents were used for the removal of Cr(VI) ions from the aqueous solution. The modified chitosan composite was characterized by ATR, FTIR, BET isotherm studies, elemental analysis, TGA, DSC, FE-SEM, and EDX. ATR. FTIR results confirmed the presence of the imidazole group in modified chitosan. The adsorption results were described by the Langmuir isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 196.1…