In this study, a low cost IL/Zeolite nanocomposite was prepared using zeolite and an environmentally friendly ionic liquid by sol-gel procedure. The IL/Zeolite nanocomposite was used as an efficient adsorbent to remove nitrate ions from water. The nanocomposite features were investigated in terms of size, structure, morphology and composition using Field Emission Scanning Electron Micrographs (FESEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (XRD), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectra. Moreover, the effects of solution pH, contact time, initial concentration of nitrate, and adsorbent dosage on nitrate adsorption were investigated. The optimum removal efficiency (91.29%) of IL/Zeolite occurred at an initial pH of 5 and room temperature (~25 °C) with an initial nitrate concentration of 30 mg L−1, the contact time of 30 min and IL/Zeolite adsorbent dosage of 0.04 g/20 m L−1. Based on the highest correlation coefficient (R2), the adsorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second-order equation and the isotherm followed the Freundlich equation. In addition, the adsorption process is exothermic and spontaneous. The recovery of the nanocomposite was successful in 5 times, so it can be concluded that IL/ Zeolite can be used as a potential and active bio-adsorbent to remove nitrate ions from aqueous solutions.
