Employment and performance of modified chitosan for the removal of copper ions and methylene blue in wastewater

Abstract

AbstractExploring new and efficient adsorbents for the purification of water from heavy metals and organic waste to provide clean drinking water is highly demanded. Herein, the synthesis of polymeric materials based on grafting chitosan (Cs) by various acrylic monomers as acrylic acid (AA), 2‐acrylamide‐2‐methyl propane sulfonic acid (AMPS), and acrylamide (Am) namely S1, S2, or S3, respectively, using methylene bisacrylamide (NMBAm) as crosslinker was performed. The formed polymeric compound was characterized by utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller. It was determined that S2 possessed a higher specific surface area of 109.133 m2/g, which is higher than S1 (71.2553 m2/g) and S3 (62.8847 m2/g). The as‐prepared polymeric compounds were utilized for the removal of copper ions (Cu2+) and methylene blue (MB) from wastewater in the absence and presence of UV light irradiation. The kinetic study and the adsorption isotherms for the removal of Cu2+ and MB as organic pollutants using the as‐prepared polymeric compound were studied.