ISSN: 2577-4328
Authors: Sökmen O and Çankaya N*
Industrial developments and increasing urbanization increase the concentration of heavy metals in wastewater. Hydrogel composites are used as adsorbents for the removal of heavy metals from wastewater. In this study, superabsorbent hydrogels were synthesized and characterized using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as biopolymers, halloysite (HNT) and montmorillonite (MMT) as clays, acrylamide (AM) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPS) as monomers. Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) was used as cross linker, tetramethylenediamine (TEMED) as accelerator, and ammonium persulfate (APS) as initiator. The effect of the co-monomer AMPS on Cu(II) remediation was determined by changing its ratio in the hydrogel. CuSO4.5H2O and Cu(NO3)2 aqueous solutions were used to determine the Cu(II) remediation capacity of the hydrogels. Infrared pectroscopy (UATR) was used for spectroscopic characterization of hydrogel composites and UVvis spectrophotometer was used for Cu(II) adsorption measurements. In the CuSO4.5H2O adsorption study at pH=neutral, adsorption % increased with increasing AMPS amount in AMPS containing hydrogels, while in the Cu(NO3)2 adsorption study at pH~1, adsorption % decreased with increasing AMPS amount in AMPS containing hydrogels.
Keywords: Acrylamide; 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-Propanesulfonic Acid; Halloysite; Montmorillonite; Hydrogel; Cu(II) Adsorption
