In the present research, extraction of silica (SiO2) from rice husk (RH) was optimized and silica nanoparticles (SNPs) was produced using it and functionalized by chitosan (CS) functional groups to obtain CS functionalized SNPs (SNPs–CS) bionanocomposite for the first time. The physical and chemical characteristics of the produced materials were examined using structural analyses. The results of structural analyses confirmed the fine structure of the produced materials. The SNPs–CS bionanocomposite was applied to effectively remove Hg2+ ions from aqueous solutions as an environmentally–friendly bionanoadsorbent and optimization and modeling of the adsorption conditions was explored using designed experiments by Design–Expert software with central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM). Optimum adsorption conditions were obtained as solution pH of 6, SNPs–CS dosage of 0.1 g L 1 and Hg2+ ions concentration of 100 mg L 1 by removal efficiency of 85% and desirability function of 0.876. The results of adsorption kinetic showed a better fit of thepseudo–second–order model with experimental data, indicating the chemisorption of the adsorption process. The better fit of the Langmuir model with experimental data was confirmed by the results of adsorption isotherms, demonstrating monolayer adsorption on the homogeneous surface. The adsorption thermodynamic results illustrated the exothermicity and spontaneity of the adsorption reaction. The results of SNPs–CS recovery depicted its excellent recovery ability of removal efficiency with more than 90% after five consecutive adsorption and desorption cycles, which proved high potential of the produced bionanocomposite for industrial applications.
