A new method of synthesis of iron doped calcium alginate beads and determination of iron content by radiometric method

The present study describes a new method of synthesis of an anionic biopolymer, iron doped calcium alginate beads (Fe-CA). The beads were characterized in terms of size, porosity and surface area. The adsorption of the anionic species depends mainly on the iron content of the beads. Thus, iron content in the Fe-CA beads has been determined employing radiometric technique using Fe-59 radiotracer. It has been found that Fe-CA beads contain 37.8 mg Fe/g of wet alginate beads in the proposed method, which is much higher than the earlier reported methods, keeping the mechanical stability. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V All rights reserved.