Ion-imprinted nanofibers of PVDF/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate for dynamic recovery of europium (III) ions from mimicked effluent

Abstract

Discharge of liquid effluents from industries in an open environment causes severe pollution to natural water sources and carcinogenicity to aquatic animals. Present study reports the utilization of ion-imprinted polyvinylidene/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (PVDF/RTIL) nanofibers fabricated via facile electrospinning technique, for effective recovery of europium III [Eu3+] ions for supplementing its supply for technological applications. RTIL used in this study provided active sites for recovery of Eu3+ ions through its functional groups. Maximum recovery of Eu3+ ions on PVDF/RTIL nanofibers was found to be 22.37 mg/g, with 90% of recovery achieved within 3 h (at pH ∼ 7.0, and T = 298 K). FE-SEM, FTIR and BET characterizations confirmed the recovery of Eu3+ ions on PVDF/RTIL nanofibers. Experimental parameters like adsorption isotherm, influence of pH of solution, and initial metal ion concentration were also investigated. Results demonstrated that recovery of Eu3+ ions onto ion-imprinted PVDF/RTIL nanofibers corresponds to Freundlich isotherm model (R2 = 0.98297). For investigation of economic viability sequential adsorption–desorption experiments were carried out which confirmed that PVDF/RTIL nanofibers can be readily regenerated and reused for five successive cycles without significant drop in effectiveness. Results demonstrate that PVDF/RTIL nanofibers can be effectively used for recovery of Eu3+ ions from mimicked liquid effluents.