Magnetic vinylphenyl boronic acid microparticles for Cr(VI) adsorption: Kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies

Highlights: • Cr(VI) can oxidize biological molecules and be one of the most harmful substance. • Magnetic seperation techniques are used on different applications in many fields. • Magnetic systems can be used for rapid and selective removal as a magnetic processor. • We investigate properties of both new material and other magnetic adsorbents reported in the literatures on the adsorption of Cr(VI) ions. • No researchments were reported on adsorption of Cr(VI) with magnetic vinylphenyl boronic acid microparticles. - Abstract: Magnetic vinylphenyl boronic acid microparticles, poly(ethylene glycol dimethacrylate(EG)–vinylphenyl boronic acid(VPBA)) [m-poly(EG–VPBA)], produced by suspension polymerization and characterized, was found to be an efficient solid polymer for Cr(VI) adsorption. The m-poly(EG–VPBA) microparticles were prepared by copolymerizing of ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EG) with 4-vinyl phenyl boronic acid (VPBA). The m-poly(EG–VPBA) microparticles were characterized by N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms, electron spin resonance (ESR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), elemental analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and swelling studies. The m-poly(EG–VPBA) microparticles were used at adsorbent/Cr(VI) ion ratios. The influence of pH, Cr(VI) initial concentration, temperature of the removal process was investigated. The maximum removal of Cr(VI) was observed at pH 2. Langmuir isotherm and Dubinin–Radushkvich isotherm were found to better fit the experiment data rather than Fruendlich isotherm. The kinetics of the adsorption process of Cr(VI) on the m-poly(EG–VPBA) microparticles were investigated using the pseudo first-order, pseudo-second-order, Ritch-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models, results showed that the pseudo-second order equation model provided the best correlation with the experimental results. The thermodynamic parameters (free energy change, ΔG⁰ enthalpy change, ΔH⁰; and entropy change, ΔS⁰) for the adsorption have been evaluated