Abstract
Novel carbon nanofiller-based starch-g-polyacrylamide hybrid flocculation materials (St-PAM-CS) were in situ prepared using potato starch (St), acrylamide (AM), and hollow mesoporous carbon spheres (CSs; diameters of 300–400 nm). Structures of different St-PAM-CS systems were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-Ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), laser scanning microscopy (LSM), and particle size analysis. The flocculation tests were evaluated by removing high turbidity kaolin suspension—initial absorbance 1.84. The effect of the St to AM molar ratio, doses, and content of CSs in hybrids on flocculation efficiency were examined. Satisfactory flocculation efficiency was obtained for all hybrids with 1 wt.% of the CS component. The highest reduction of the kaolin suspension absorbance (to 0.06) was observed for a 3 mL dose of the starch hybrid with the highest AM content. Additionally, St-PAM-CS showed a reduction in the sludge volume in time. The hybrids reached better flocculation efficiency in relation to the reference systems without CSs. The proposed flocculation mechanism (considering bridging, patching, and formation of hydrogen bonds) has been confirmed by the recorded results.
Highlights
Due to continuous industrial, economic, and civilization development, one of the main problems is pollution of the natural environment
The hybrids were synthesized via a free radical polymerization process preceded by preparation of a carbon spheres (CSs) aqueous suspension
The CS-based polymeric hybrids were compared to the corresponding polymers without the nanofiller using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, as well as laser scanning microscopy
Summary
Due to continuous industrial, economic, and civilization development, one of the main problems is pollution of the natural environment (air, water, and soil). Coagulants and flocculants play the most important role in the field of waste water treatment [5,6,7,8]. Simple coagulants and flocculating agents require high doses, which increase costs of the purification process. They must be dosed in the right order to keep their proper effectiveness. During application of traditional waste water treatment agents the remaining of metal ions originating from inorganic coagulants and unreacted monomers from polymeric compounds are of major concern [11,12,13,14,15]. A development of new water purification agents with comprehensive activity (e.g., dual functionality-flocculation and antibacterial action [16,17,18], coagulation and flocculation [19,20,21,22]), and/or containing natural polymers [23,24,25,26] or hybrid materials [27,28,29,30] is justified from a scientific, practical, and economic point of view
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