Environmentally friendly copolymeric beads of Chlorella vulgaris and poly(methacrylamide) grafted aliginic acid di‐block copolymers for biosorption of zinc ions

Abstract

AbstractThe synthesis of biodegradable environmentally friendly copolymeric beads for water treatment biosorption processes is demonstrated. The synthesized poly(methacrylamide) grafted aliginic acid copolymers were characterized using 1H NMR, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, TGA and SEM. The di‐block copolymers showed a morphological change from two‐dimensional layer‐by‐layer structures to three‐dimensional well‐compacted wrinkles as grafting efficiency increased. The copolymeric beads were formed from the di‐block copolymer and algae crosslinked with 5% calcium ions (w/w). These copolymeric beads were then subjected to biosorption investigations for zinc ions as a model heavy metal ion at different pH values and stirring time periods. Batch adsorption experiments showed that the copolymeric beads were effective in zinc ion removal from aqueous solutions with maximum uptake exceeding 89.0 mg g–1 using higher grafting efficiency copolymeric beads at pH 5.5. Equilibrium pH studies revealed that zinc biosorption was pH dependent and maximum uptake was obtained at pH 5.5. Dynamics studies showed that the biosorption of zinc was rapid with equilibrium attained within 40 min and the data followed pseudo‐second‐order kinetics. The equilibrium biosorption of zinc ions on the copolymeric beads exhibited a Freundlich isotherm fit. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry