Nur Yusaerah, AR. Sella Auliya, Wahyu Setya Rini, Ganden Supriyanto and Handoko Darmokoesoemo
Abstract
Chitosan and its modifications have received great attention over the past few years due to its application as an environmentally friendly adsorbent against various heavy metal ions from industrial waste. Chitosan can remove and adsorb heavy metals because of the active groups -NH2 and -OH which are highly reactive, can chelate, and base. Chitosan is soluble in acid, so the use of chitosan directly as an adsorbent will be less effective. This is because in an acidic area it will reduce the amine group which is an active group capable of binding with metal ions, so that chitosan can increase resistance to acids and increase the stability of chitosan. Modification of chitosan is carried out by impregnation, crosslinking and grafting with respect to pH, temperature, contact, adsorbent mass, and initial metal ion concentration. The optimal results of the modified chitosan were characterized using FTIR, XRD, SEM, and desorption tests to see the adsorption efficiency. Modification of chitosan into composites by combining two methods is the best method, namely the cross-linking method continued grafting because the two active sides of modified chitosan, which can increase the adsorption of chitosan in binding heavy metal ions. The adsorbent based on chitosan and its modification allows better adsorption of heavy metal ions.