Synthesis of Copolymer of Chitosan with Acrylamide as an Adsorbent for Heavy Metal Waste Treatment

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this research is to chemically modify chitosan to improve and enhance the ability as an adsorbent. Chitosan is a natural polymer produced from chitin deacetylation. The best performance of chitosan is as an adsorbent is in acidic solutions. Chemical modification was carried out by chitosan copolymerization with acrylamide. Copolymer synthesis was done by using microwave oven with the weight ratio of chitosan and acrylamide of 1: 4. The characterization of chitosan copolymer with acrylamide (chitosan-g-acrylamide copolymer) was conducted by FTIR spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The analysis of the functional group by FTIR spectroscopy shows that the copolymer has been successfully synthesized. The surface analysis with SEM shows that the morphology of the copolymer surface is more homogeneous compared to that of chitosan.