Heavy metals are harmful ions and their removal from wastewater has attracted a growing attention amongst the scientific researchers in current decade. In this study, pea peels were used as precursor to purify cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). Polyvinyl alcohol/ CNCs magnetic composite was developed as a novel bioadsorbent for adsorption of Ni (II) and Zn (II) ions from aqueous solutions. Results revealed that the adsorption efficiency of the examined ions by PVA/CNCs magnetic composite largely

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... reased with increasing contact time. The equilibrium adsorption capacity was 4.19 and 4.00 mg g -1 for Ni (II) and Zn (II), respectively. The highest removal percentages for Ni (II) and Zn (II) were 83.86 and 80.13, respectively at initial concentration of 10 µg/ml. The FTIR and SEM EDX analysis were performed before and after Ni (II) and Zn (II) sorption on the PVA/cellulose beads, validating that the -OH groups played a chief role in sorption process. Finally, it could be concluded that PVA/cellulose magnetic composite is a promising adsorbent for removing Ni (II) and Zn (II) ions from wastewater.