Abstract: Calcon-imprinted magnetic chitosan (CIMC) nanoparticles (NPs) were successfully synthesized as a novel adsorbent. Epichlorohydrin (ECH) and glutaraldehyde (GA) were used as cross-linkers to synthesize desired calcon-imprinted magnetic chitosan (ECH/CIMC and GA/CIMC) and non-imprinted magnetic chitosan (ECH/NIMC and GA/NIMC) NPs for adsorption and removal of calcon from polluted solutions. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were employed to investigate the characteristics of ECH/CIMC and GA/CIMC. The effect of pH, temperature, adsorbent dosage and initial dye concentration was evaluated. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics were adequately described by Langmuir and pseudo second-order model, respectively. Maximum removal capacity by ECH/CIMC and GA/CIMC was computed as 51.71 and 39.23 mg/g. Thermodynamic parameters were also estimated and results showed that the adsorption of calcon onto CIMC and NIMC was endothermic and that it is a spontaneous and favorable process
Author keywords: Calcon-imprinted magnetic chitosan, Removal of calcon dye, Magnetic chitosan nanoparticles, glutaraldehyde, Epichlorohydrin