For the simultaneous adsorption and detoxification of hexavalent chromium from water, a new titaniumchitosan (Ti-CTS) composite was synthesized through a metal-binding reaction between titanium ions and the chitosan biopolymer followed by cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. The resultant composite was characterized by FT-IR, XRD, elemental mapping, SEM and XPS. The adsorption properties toward Cr(VI) were systematically investigated as a function of pH, dosage, initial concentration, contact time, temperature and co-existing ions. Experimental data were well described by the Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second order model with the maximum adsorption capacity of 171 mg g À1 . More attractively, the Cr(VI) could be effectively adsorbed and reduced to the less toxic Cr(III) by the Ti-CTS composite.The experimental results, FT-IR and XPS indicated that the possible removal mechanism of Cr(VI) onto the Ti-CTS composite was summarized into three steps: (i) Cr(VI) adsorption by electrostatic attraction (Ti 4+ and HCrO 4 À ) and ligand exchange (Cl À and HCrO 4 À ); (ii) Cr(VI) partly reduced to Cr(III); (iii) the re-adsorption of Cr(III) onto the Ti-CTS composite. Fig. 2 The wide scan XPS spectra of the Ti-CTS composite without (A) and with (B) Cr(VI) adsorbed; high resolution Cr 2p spectra of the Ti-CTS-Cr composite before (C) and after (D) desorption with NaOH.
J. Mater. Chem. AThis journal is