Muhammad Zulfajri, Muhammad Adlim, Aulia Andini, Maliya Syabriyana, Zulfadli, Genin Gary Huang
Environmental pollution by heavy metal ions, especially nickel (Ni2+), has appeared as a growing global challenge. The continuous accumulation of Ni2+ ions can lead to health problems in humans and other living organisms. Unlike common chitosan-silica systems that depend on porous or nanoscale silica supports, this study utilized commercially available solid white silica-based glass beads as a structured support. This study explored chitosan-coated white silica-based glass beads (CWSGB) as an adsorbent for dissolved Ni2+ ions. The CWSGB adsorbent showed no significant surface swelling after a 5-h water endurance test, indicating that the chitosan coating remained stable on the silica bead surface without noticeable detachment. The batch adsorption method was chosen as an effective method to remove Ni2+ ions. UV–vis spectrophotometry was used to monitor Ni2+ ion adsorption, with dimethylglyoxime (DMG) employed as a complexing reagent to detect the remaining Ni2+ ions in solution. The results showed that 300 beads of CWSGB adsorbed Ni2+ ions at an initial concentration of 2000 mg L−1 within 20 min, with an adsorption efficiency of about 60.29%. Meanwhile, column-based adsorption experiments showed a lower adsorption efficiency toward Ni2+ ions with 23.62%, possibly owing to the limited interaction between the CWSGB's active sites and the Ni2+ ions under flow conditions. The adsorption behavior followed the Langmuir isotherm model with a high R2 value (0.99894). The significance of this study lies in establishing that a facile coating strategy, without complex chemical modification, can obtain a a high adsorption capacity (qmax = 534.8 mg g−1) for Ni2+ removal. Therefore, the CWSGB adsorbent showed effective Ni2+ removal performance with a simple and structured adsorbent design. © 2026 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.
Department of Chemistry Education, Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Aceh, Banda Aceh, 23245, Indonesia; Chemistry Department, FKIP, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Aceh, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia; Graduate School of Mathematics and Applied Science, Universitas Syiah Kuala, Aceh, Banda Aceh, 23111, Indonesia; Department of Chemical Engineering, Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Banda Aceh, 23245, Indonesia; Department of Medicinal and Applied Chemistry, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, 80708, Taiwan
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