Versatile magnetic gel from peach gum polysaccharide for efficient adsorption of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions and catalysis

In this paper, we report a facile approach to prepare magnetic gel based on the simultaneous formation of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and crosslinking of natural peach gum polysaccharide. The obtained magnetic gel with porous structure, high specific surface area and numerous oxygen-containing functional groups exhibited fast and efficient adsorption capability towards Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions. The adsorption isotherms and kinetics presented good correlation with Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order model, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of the magnetic gel for Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions can reach 277.0 and 141.4mgg-1, respectively, which is much higher than many other reported magnetic adsorbents. In addition, the magnetic gel can serve as a magnetic support for in situ growth of Pt nanocatalyst with high catalytic activity, as demonstrated by the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Moreover, the magnetic gel exhibited excellent magnetic separation capability and superior reusability both for the adsorption and catalysis applications.