Nanostructured polyaniline rice husk composite as adsorption materials synthesized by different methods

Composites based on polyaniline (PANi) and rice husk (RH) were prepared by two methods: the first one was chemical method by combining RH contained in acid medium and aniline using ammonium persulfate as an oxidation agent and the second one was that of soaking RH into PANi solution. The presence of PANi combined with RH to form nanocomposite was clearly demonstrated by infrared (IR) spectra as well as by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. Lead(II) and cadmium(II) ion concentrations in solution before and after adsorption process on those composites were analysed by atomic adsorption spectroscopy. Of the above preparation methods, the soaking one provided a composite onto which the maximum adsorption capacity was higher for lead(II) ion (200 mg g(-1)), but lower for cadmium(II) ion (106.383 mg g(-1)) in comparison with the chemical one. However, their adsorption process occurring on both composites also fitted well into the Langmuir isotherm model.