Synthesis of Polymer-Based Magnetic Nanocomposite for Multi-Pollutants Removal from Water

Fatimah Mohammed Alzahrani; Norah Salem Alsaiari; Khadijah Mohammedsaleh Katubi; Abdelfattah Amari; Faouzi Ben Rebah; Mohamed A Tahoon

doi:10.3390/polym13111742

Synthesis of Polymer-Based Magnetic Nanocomposite for Multi-Pollutants Removal from Water

Polymers (Basel). 2021 May 26;13(11):1742. doi: 10.3390/polym13111742.

Authors

Fatimah Mohammed Alzahrani¹, Norah Salem Alsaiari¹, Khadijah Mohammedsaleh Katubi¹, Abdelfattah Amari^{2

3}, Faouzi Ben Rebah^{4

5}, Mohamed A Tahoon^{4

6}

Affiliations

¹ Chemistry Department, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha 61411, Saudi Arabia.
³ Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Energy and Environment, National School of Engineers, Gabes University, Gabes 6072, Tunisia.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Higher Institute of Biotechnology of Sfax (ISBS), Sfax University, Sfax 3000, Tunisia.
⁶ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt.

Abstract

A magnetic polymer-based nanocomposite was fabricated by the modification of an Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ magnetic composite with polypyrrole (PPy) via co-precipitation polymerization to form PPy/Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ for the removal of Congo red dye (CR) and hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) ions from water. The nanocomposite was characterized using various techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), vibration sample magnetometer, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results confirm the successful fabrication of the nanocomposite in the size of nanometers. The effect of different conditions such as the contact time, adsorbent dosage, solution pH, and initial concentration on the adsorption process was investigated. The adsorption isotherm suggested monolayer adsorption of both contaminants over the PPy/Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ nanocomposite following a Langmuir isotherm, with maximum adsorption of 361 and 298 mg.g^-1 for CR dye and Cr(VI), respectively. Furthermore, the effect of water type on the adsorption process was examined, indicating the applicability of the PPy/Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ nanocomposite for real sample treatment. Interestingly, the reusability of the nanocomposite for the removal of the studied contaminants was investigated with good results even after six successive cycles. All results make this nanocomposite a promising material for water treatment.

Keywords: Congo red removal; adsorption; chromium removal; magnetic nanomaterials; polymers.