Synthesis and characterization of organic montmorillonite-polyvinyl alcohol-co-polyacrylic nanocomposite hydrogel for heavy metal uptake in water

Mona Mohsen; Ehsan Gomaa; Nabila Ahmed Mazaid; Reem Mohammed; Mona Mohsen; Ehsan Gomaa; Nabila Ahmed Mazaid; Reem Mohammed

doi:10.3934/matersci.2017.5.1122

AIMS Materials Science

2017, Volume 4, Issue 5: 1122-1139. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2017.5.1122

Previous Article Next Article

Research article

Synthesis and characterization of organic montmorillonite-polyvinyl alcohol-co-polyacrylic nanocomposite hydrogel for heavy metal uptake in water

1.
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Abbassia, 11566, Cairo, Egypt
2.
Polymer Chemistry Department—National Center for Radiation Research and Technology, Atomic Energy Authority, Egypt

Received: 26 July 2017 Accepted: 26 October 2017 Published: 01 November 2017

In the present work, preparation of organic montmorillonite-polyvinyl alcohol-co-polyacrylic (OMMT-PVA/AAc) nanocomposite hydrogels are performed with different OMMT ratios ranging from 1.3 to 15% using γ irradiation as initiator to induce crosslink network structure. These nanocomposites hydrogels are prepared to use in heavy metals water decontamination. The effect of clay ratio and absorbed dose on gel fraction and swelling% has been investigated. It is found that the gel fraction increases up to 92% with increasing the loaded OMMT to 15%, whereas the swelling% reaches its maximum value at a ratio of nanoscale clay of 6% and at an absorbed dose of 4 kGy. The thermal stability of PVA/AAc hydrogel and OMMT-PVA/AAc nanocomposite hydrogels has been determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), which indicated a higher thermal stability of the nanocomposite hydrogel. The FTIR spectral analysis has identified the bond structure of the PVA/AAc hydrogel and the OMMT-PVA/AAc nanocomposite. The nanostructure of the composite as well as the degree of exfoliation of clay are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Its free volume holes parameters (size and fraction) are investigated by means of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS).
After loading the bulk and nanocomposites hydrogels with different heavy metals (Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺), UV spectroscopy is applied to determine the metal ion concentration before and after treatment. The distribution of heavy metals on the hydrogels is determined by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The factors affecting the heavy metal uptake, such as contact time, pH and metal ion concentration of solutions are studied.
The results have shown that, the presence of OMMT increases the thermal stability of PVA/AAc due to the hydrogen bond formed between them which, is confirmed by FTIR. In addition, the resulting gel fraction after irradiation with relatively low gamma absorbed dose increased by 120%, enabling the sample to be reused for several times. In addition, the metal adsorption has increased from 194, 185, 144 mg/g for Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ respectively in case of previously prepared PVA/AAc hydrogel to 835, 785, 636 mg/g for Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ respectively for OMMT-PVA/AAc nanocomposite.
- hydrogels,
- montmorillonite,
- nanocomposite,
- metal uptake,
- free-volume
Citation: Mona Mohsen, Ehsan Gomaa, Nabila Ahmed Mazaid, Reem Mohammed. Synthesis and characterization of organic montmorillonite-polyvinyl alcohol-co-polyacrylic nanocomposite hydrogel for heavy metal uptake in water[J]. AIMS Materials Science, 2017, 4(5): 1122-1139. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2017.5.1122

Related Papers:

Abstract

In the present work, preparation of organic montmorillonite-polyvinyl alcohol-co-polyacrylic (OMMT-PVA/AAc) nanocomposite hydrogels are performed with different OMMT ratios ranging from 1.3 to 15% using γ irradiation as initiator to induce crosslink network structure. These nanocomposites hydrogels are prepared to use in heavy metals water decontamination. The effect of clay ratio and absorbed dose on gel fraction and swelling% has been investigated. It is found that the gel fraction increases up to 92% with increasing the loaded OMMT to 15%, whereas the swelling% reaches its maximum value at a ratio of nanoscale clay of 6% and at an absorbed dose of 4 kGy. The thermal stability of PVA/AAc hydrogel and OMMT-PVA/AAc nanocomposite hydrogels has been determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), which indicated a higher thermal stability of the nanocomposite hydrogel. The FTIR spectral analysis has identified the bond structure of the PVA/AAc hydrogel and the OMMT-PVA/AAc nanocomposite. The nanostructure of the composite as well as the degree of exfoliation of clay are studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Its free volume holes parameters (size and fraction) are investigated by means of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS).
After loading the bulk and nanocomposites hydrogels with different heavy metals (Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺), UV spectroscopy is applied to determine the metal ion concentration before and after treatment. The distribution of heavy metals on the hydrogels is determined by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The factors affecting the heavy metal uptake, such as contact time, pH and metal ion concentration of solutions are studied.
The results have shown that, the presence of OMMT increases the thermal stability of PVA/AAc due to the hydrogen bond formed between them which, is confirmed by FTIR. In addition, the resulting gel fraction after irradiation with relatively low gamma absorbed dose increased by 120%, enabling the sample to be reused for several times. In addition, the metal adsorption has increased from 194, 185, 144 mg/g for Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ respectively in case of previously prepared PVA/AAc hydrogel to 835, 785, 636 mg/g for Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ and Ni²⁺ respectively for OMMT-PVA/AAc nanocomposite.

References

[1]	Abdel-Raouf MS, Abdul-Raheim ARM (2017) Removal of Heavy Metals from Industrial Waste Water by Biomass-Based Materials: A Review. J Pollut Eff Cont 5: 180.
[2]	Berihun D (2017) Removal of Chromium from Industrial Wastewater by Adsorption Using Coffee Husk. J Material Sci Eng 6: 331.
[3]	Chen X, Zhou S, Zhang L, et al. (2016) Adsorption of Heavy Metals by Graphene Oxide/Cellulose Hydrogel Prepared from NaOH/Urea Aqueous Solution. Materials 9: 582. doi: 10.3390/ma9070582
[4]	Lingamdinne LP, Kim IS, Ha JH, et al. (2017) Enhanced Adsorption Removal of Pb(II) and Cr(III) by Using Nickel Ferrite-Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite. Metals 7: 225. doi: 10.3390/met7060225
[5]	Bajpai A, Tripathi N, Saxena S (2014) Nanocomposites Based on Natural Biodegradable Materials: Effect of Post-Preparative γ-Irradiation on the Swelling Properties. Open J Org Polym Mat 4: 10–15. doi: 10.4236/ojopm.2014.41003
[6]	Pandey N, Shukla SK, Singh NB (2017) Water purification by polymer nanocomposites: an overview. Nanocomposites 3: 47–66. doi: 10.1080/20550324.2017.1329983
[7]	El Adraa K, Georgelin T, Lambert JF, et al. (2017) Cysteine-montmorillonite composites for heavy metal cation complexation: A combined experimental and theoretical study. Chem Eng J 314: 406–417. doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2016.11.160
[8]	Akpomie KG, Dawodu FA (2016) Acid-modified montmorillonite for sorption of heavy metals from automobile effluent. Beni-Seuf Univ J Basic Appl Sci 5: 1–12.
[9]	Feng YL, Wang C, Mao N, et al. (2017) Research Progress of Organic Modified Montmorillonite. Adv Mater 6: 20–23. Available from: http://advinmaterials.org/article?journalid=129&doi=10.11648/j.am.20170603.11 doi: 10.11648/j.am.20170603.11
[10]	Burham N, Sayed M (2016) Adsorption Behavior of Cd²⁺ and Zn²⁺ onto Natural Egyptian Bentonitic Clay. Minerals 6: 129. doi: 10.3390/min6040129
[11]	Rafiei HR, Shirvani M, Ogunseitan OA (2016) Removal of lead from aqueous solutions by a poly(acrylic acid)/bentonite nanocomposite. Appl Water Sci 6: 331–338.
[12]	Ilgin P, Durak H, Gür A (2015) A Novel pH-Responsive p(AAm-co-METAC)/MMT Composite Hydrogel: Synthesis, Characterization and Its Absorption Performance on Heavy Metal Ions. Polym-Plast Tech Eng 54: 603–615. doi: 10.1080/03602559.2014.974189
[13]	Mahaweero T, Thanatde J (2013) Extraction of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solutions using Chitosan/Montmorillonite Hybrid Hydrogels [PhD Dissertation]. Case Western Reserve University.
[14]	Zhu L, Wang L, Xu Y (2017) Chitosan and surfactant co-modified montmorillonite: A multifunctional adsorbent for contaminant removal. Appl Clay Sci 146: 35–42.
[15]	Sirousazar M, Kokabi M, Hassan ZM, et al. (2011) Dehydration kinetics of polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite hydrogels containing Na-montmorillonite nanoclay. Sci Iran 8: 780–784.
[16]	Maziad NA, Mohsen M, Gomaa E, et al. (2015) Radiation Copolymerization of Hydrogels Based in Polyacrylic Acid/Polyvinyl Alcohol Applied in Water Treatment Processes. J Mater Sci Eng A 5: 381–390.
[17]	Kansy J (1996) Microcomputer program for analysis of positron annihilation lifetime spectra. Nucl Instrum Meth A 374: 235–244. doi: 10.1016/0168-9002(96)00075-7
[18]	Schmidt M, Maurer FHJ (2000) Relation between free-volume quantities from PVT–EOS analysis and PALS. Polymer 41: 8419–8424. doi: 10.1016/S0032-3861(00)00181-6
[19]	Jean Y (1990) Positron annihilation spectroscopy for chemical analysis: a novel probe for microstructural analysis of polymers. Microchem J 42: 72–102. doi: 10.1016/0026-265X(90)90027-3
[20]	Kokabi M, Sirousazar M, Hassan ZM (2007) PVA-Clay Nanocomposite Hydrogels for Wound Dressing. Eur Polym J 43: 773–781. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2006.11.030
[21]	Barati A, Asgari M, Miri T, et al. (2013) Removal and Recovery of Copper and Nickel Ions from Aqueous Solution by Poly(Methacrylamide-Co-Acrylic Acid)/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites. Environ Sci Pollut R 20: 6242–6255. doi: 10.1007/s11356-013-1672-3
[22]	Yakar A (2014) Synthesis of Poly(N-Methylol Methacrylamide/Vinyl Sulfonic Acid) Hydrogels for Heavy Metal Ion Removal. B Korean Chem Soc 35: 3063–3070. doi: 10.5012/bkcs.2014.35.10.3063
[23]	El-Din HMN, Hegazy ESA, Ibraheim DM (2009) Synthesis and Characterization of Hydrogels Based on Gamma Irradiation of Acrylic Acid and Methacrylic Acid. Polym Composite 30: 569–575. doi: 10.1002/pc.20588
[24]	Hegazy DE, Eid M, Madani M (2014) Effect of Ni Nano Particles on Thermal, Optical and Electrical Behaviour of Irradiated PVA/AAc Films. Arab J Nucl Sci Appl 47: 41–52.
[25]	Sapalidis AA, Katsaros FK, Kanellopoulos NK, et al. (2011) PVA/montmorillonite nanocomposites: development and properties, In: Cuppoletti J, Nanocomposites and polymers with analytical methods, InTech, 29–50.
[26]	Usuki A, Hasegawa N, Kato M, et al. (2005) Polymer-clay nanocomposites, In: Inorganic polymeric nanocomposites and membranes, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 179: 135–195.
[27]	Părpăriţă E, Cheaburu CN, Pațachia SF, et al. (2014) Polyvinyl alcohol/chitosan/montmorillonite Nnanocomposites preparation by freeze/thaw cycles and characterization. Acta Chem Iasi 22: 75–96.

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2017 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)