Alves, Lisandra Cristina de CastroYáñez Vilar, SusanaPiñeiro Redondo, YolandaRivas Rey, José2020-11-262020-11-262020de Castro Alves, L.; Yáñez-Vilar, S.; Piñeiro-Redondo, Y.; Rivas, J. Efficient Separation of Heavy Metals by Magnetic Nanostructured Beads. Inorganics 2020, 8, 40http://hdl.handle.net/10347/23827This study reports the ability of magnetic alginate activated carbon (MAAC) beads to remove Cd(II), Hg(II), and Ni(II) from water in a mono-metal and ternary system. The adsorption capacity of the MAAC beads was highest in the mono-metal system. The removal efficiency of such metal ions falls in the range of 20–80% and it followed the order Cd(II) > Ni(II) > Hg(II). The model that best fitted in the ternary system was the Freundlich isotherm, while in the mono-system it was the Langmuir isotherm. The maximum Cd(II), Hg(II), and Ni(II) adsorption capacities calculated from the Freundlich isotherm in the mono-metal system were 7.09, 5.08, and 4.82 (mg/g) (mg/L)1/n, respectively. Lower adsorption capacity was observed in the ternary system due to the competition of metal ions for available adsorption sites. Desorption and reusability experiments demonstrated the MAAC beads could be used for at least five consecutive adsorption/desorption cycles. These findings suggest the practical use of the MAAC beads as efficient adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals from wastewatereng© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Atribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Heavy metalsMagnetite nanoparticlesAdsorptionNanocompositeHybridMulti-metalWaterjournal article10.3390/inorganics80600402304-6740open access