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 Fe 3 O 4 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 Pb 2+ and Cd 2+ 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 Pb 2+ and Cd 2+ ions can reach 277.0 and 141.4   mg   g −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.