Removal of copper ions from water using polysaccharide-constructed hydrogels

Xiaoliang Qi; Ruona Liu; Mengyu Chen; Zhipeng Li; Tao Qin; Yuna Qian; Shengzhe Zhao; Minchao Liu; Qiankun Zeng; Jianliang Shen

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.01.015

Removal of copper ions from water using polysaccharide-constructed hydrogels

Carbohydr Polym. 2019 Apr 1:209:101-110. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.01.015. Epub 2019 Jan 8.

Authors

Xiaoliang Qi¹, Ruona Liu², Mengyu Chen², Zhipeng Li³, Tao Qin³, Yuna Qian⁴, Shengzhe Zhao⁴, Minchao Liu³, Qiankun Zeng⁴, Jianliang Shen⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China; Wenzhou Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, 32500, China. Electronic address: xiaoliangqi90@gmail.com.
² Department of Prosthodontics, School & Hospital of Stomatology, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China.
³ School of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China; Wenzhou Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, 32500, China.
⁴ Wenzhou Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, 32500, China.
⁵ School of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China; Wenzhou Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, 32500, China. Electronic address: shenjl@wibe.ac.cn.

PMID: 30732789
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.01.015

Abstract

Polysaccharides are an important class of materials that are often exploited in the fields of food, agriculture, biomedical engineering and wastewater treatment owing to their unique and tunable properties. In this work, we utilize an inexpensive and sustainable extracellular polysaccharide salecan (EPS), which is produced by bacterium Agrobacterium sp. ZX09, as a hydrogel matrix, poly(3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt) (PSM) as side chains to fabricate EPS-grafted-PSM adsorbents through a simple one-pot approach. Scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, rheometry and thermogravimetry were conducted to characterize the physicochemical properties of resultant adsorbents. We noticed that EPS not only served as the host chains of network to adjust the water uptake ability of adsorbents, but also endued them with tunable polarity. Further, the adsorption behaviors of developed adsorbents to copper ions (Cu²⁺) were explored: these gels present high absorption ability for Cu²⁺ through a chemical adsorption process which well described by Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. In summary, the approach exhibited in this work opens a new avenue to design polysaccharide-based materials for Cu²⁺ adsorption.

Keywords: Adsorbents; Copper ions; EPS; Extracellular polysaccharide; Hydrogels.