A master’s thesis at the College of Science at the University of Karbala discussed the removal of some metal ions using two types of ligands. The first type of ligand is a multi-dentate ligand attached to polysiloxane, while the other type is the same ligand as the first type with the addition of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles.

The study, conducted by student Ayam Tareq Abdul-Kadhim from the Department of Chemistry, aimed to prepare porous materials derived from rice husks with magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and diagnose them using physical techniques, and to use them to remove several ionic pollutants in aqueous solutions.

The study concluded that porous materials are effective in removing pollutants, and the removal efficiency increases with the presence of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on the porous materials.

The study recommended the possibility of using other sources of non-crystalline silica and employing them with different organic groups for pollutant removal, as well as studying the effect of using the same porous materials with other pollutants such as dyes.