Chitosan as a potential amendment to remediate metal contaminated soil - a characterisation study

The potential of chitosan, a fishery waste-based material, as a soil amendment to clean-up metal contaminated soil was investigated. Chitosan was treated using glutaraldehyde (GLA), epichlorohydrin (ECH) and ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) as cross-linking reagents to enhance its chemical stability in acidic media and to improve its physical properties. Cross-linking treatment had significant effects on chitosan surface area, pore diameter, surface morphology and crystallinity. Interaction with Ag(I), Pb(II) and Cu(II) decreased the crystallinity of the materials and changed their surface morphology significantly. FTIR analysis confirmed that N and O atoms served as binding sites for the metal ions. Chitosan and treated chitosans were able to bind metal ions, even in the presence of K(+), Cl(-) and NO(3)(-), which are dominant ions in soil. Therefore, remediation of metal contaminated soil using chitosan and cross-linked treated chitosans as soil amendments is feasible.