Keratin nanoparticles: synthesis and application for Cu(II) removal

A straightforward procedure to synthesize keratin nanoparticles (KNP) from chicken feathers was introduced. The characterization of the synthesized nanoparticles was done using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The FTIR analysis revealed no significant chemical change after the nanoparticle synthesis. TEM imaging indicated the synthesis of KNPs with a spherical morphology and mean size of 42 nm. The DLS results indicated that the synthesized KNPs were stable in aqueous media by having a zetapotential of lower than -30 mV. The produced KNPs were then evaluated for the biosorption of Cu (II) from aqueous solutions. The analyzed adsorption isotherm data revealed the change from a Redlich-Peterson isotherm to a Langmuir one by increasing the biosorbent dosage, which could be attributed to the more prepared adsorption sites. The experiments of the effect of the biosorbent dosage suggested the best removal at a KNP dose of 3.0 g/L. At this dosage, the maximum Cu (II) adsorption capacity and Langmuir constant were 50 mg/g and 10.8×10-3 L/mg, respectively; the adsorption kinetic followed the pseudo-second order model.