Synthesis of novel bentonite/pectin-grafted-poly(crotonic acid-co-acrylic acid) hydrogel nanocomposite for adsorptive removal of safranin O dye from aqueous solution

Abstract

ABSTRACT This novel work is devoted to the synthesis of the bentonite/pectin-grafted-poly(crotonic acid-co-acrylic acid (AA-co-CA) hydrogel nanocomposite by free-radical copolymerisation method for exploring its potential towards safranin O dye removal. The prepared nanocomposite was characterised by different techniques revealing the presence of numerous functionalities, porous nature and greater swelling % at basic pH. The pHpzc of the nanocomposite was determined to be 4. Maximum of 97.09% of safranin O dye removal take place under optimised conditions, that is, 0.03 g of bentonite dose (bentonite to net hydrogel weight ratio (1.295%), with pH of 7, nanocomposite dose of 5 g/l for 120 min. The dye concentration was 500 mg/l at the temperature of 25°C. Effect of ionic strength confirmed the greatest decrease in adsorption capacity in the presence of divalent cations. The highest R2 and the lowest error margins of the Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models make these models well fitted to the experimental data. Further, the spontaneous and exothermic nature of the process was confirmed by the negative values of ΔG and ΔH, respectively. The enhanced adsorption of safranin O dye by the prepared nanocomposite was informed by several mechanisms, including electrostatic, pore filling and H-bonding. A comparison of the adsorption capacity of the prepared nanocomposite with various other adsorbents was also studied. Stability of the prepared adsorbent was revealed from its recovery upto five cycles in different desorption media. Finally, the treatment of the adsorbent with real textile wastewater showed its removal efficiency as 95.8% highlighting its promising nature for treating large industrial wastewater.