The removal of heavy metals from water is one of the major challenges that humanity must address to avoid negative potential impacts on the environment and human health. During the last few years, several adsorbents have been examined, in a search for highly efficient and cost-effective materials. In this work, we investigated the use of laurel, canelo and eucalyptus lignocellulosic sawdust residues (LRs) impregnated with magnetite nanoparticles (MNP), to remove Cr6+ ions. Each LR was added to an aqueous solution in which MNP were being synthesized by coprecipitation. Two composite adsorbents were obtained, with LR:MNP ratios of 1:1 and 3:1. The materials obtained were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and infrared and Raman spectroscopy. The results obtained showed that the laurel composite was the best adsorbent, reaching a maximum removal efficiency and capacity of 99.8 % and 30.5 mg/g, respectively. The optimal contact time was 30 min and the process fitted the Langmuir isotherm model, showing small effects of the fraction of sawdust residues used to support the MNP. Further studies will be performed to optimize the composition of the composites aiming to reduce the amount of costly MNP used while ensuring a high removal performance.

Magnetic composites obtained by impregnation of lignocellulosic biomass with magnetite nanoparticles were used for zinc(II) removal from aqueous synthetic solutions. Laurel, canelo and eucalyptus sawdust, with a particle size between 74 and 150 µm were used as support. Structural and morphological examinations of the composites confirmed the presence of magnetite nanoparticles in the lignocellulosic support. Transmission Electron Microscopy showed nanoparticles with diameters of about 20 nm. The maximum removal efficiencies for 7 g L−1 of modified adsorbent were increased to 98.9, 98.8 and 97.6% for laurel, canelo and eucalyptus magnetic composites, respectively, in comparison to 60.9, 46.0 and 33.3%, for corresponding unmodified adsorbents. Adsorption data was analyzed using pseudo-first, pseudo-second order and intra-particle diffusion kinetic models and various isotherm models. The results determined that Freundlich isotherm fits the Zn ions adsorption on magnetite modified adsorbents while chemisorption and boundary diffusion were dominating the process.