Environmental remediation and wastewater treatment using silver incorporated dual metal oxide polyaniline nano composites kinetic insights into Pb (II) and As (III) adsorptive removal

Adsorption plays an important role in the elimination of toxic metal ions from wastewater. The Fe₃O₄/CuO–itaconic acid/polyaniline@Ag nanocomposite composed of itaconic acid (IA), polyaniline (PANI), dual metal oxides (Fe₃O₄/CuO), and silver nanoparticles in a 2:2:1:1 ratio was investigated. This nanocomposite was analyzed in FTIR, SEM/EDAX, TEM, and XRD spectra. The adsorption process has been influenced by pH, contact time, size of sorbent, and concentration of toxic metal ions in solution. The capacity of Pb(II) and As(III) ions equilibrium adsorption on nanocomposites increased with metal concentration characterized by the Langmuir isotherm exhibited qm values at 47.915 and 61.012 mg/g. Adsorption of Pb(II) and As(III) followed pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic parameters. Both models were applied. The pseudo-second-order kinetic analysis revealed maximum adsorption capacities (qₑ) of 123.76 mg/g for Pb (II) and 119.33 mg/g for As (III), corresponding to R2 values of 0.95694 and 0.94696, respectively.