Abstract

Starch Stabilized Magnetic Nanoparticles (SSMNPs) were prepared by reacting 4.4 g of FeCl₃.6H₂O with 1.98 g of FeCl₂.4H₂O in 61 mL of 0, 0.025, 0.5, 0.1 and 0.5% w/v of cassava waste water starch solution. Deionised water (0% w/v) was used as the control. Powder X-ray diffraction analysis of the first four samples confirmed that all the samples contained magnetite nanoparticles with estimated sizes of 16.99, 15.73, 11.48 and 17.73 nm respectively. The SSMNPs were then applied in the removal of nickel ions from crude oil obtained from Bomu oil field. The samples were divided into batches A and B. Both samples were shaken for 3.3 h but only batch A was centrifuged before analysis. 0.2 mL of each sample was siphoned and dissolved in n-hexane for analysis. The results obtained showed that the sample with the least starch concentration (15.73 nm) recorded the best performance in both cases with 56 and 93% of Ni (II) complexes removal respectively. All measurements were done using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer set at ?_max of 400 nm predetermined from a scan of Ni (II) ions solution.

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