Nickel-hydroxide-encapsulated polyacrylamide as a novel adsorptive composite for the capture of methylene blue from wastewater

A Marey; Marzouk Adel; Ahmed M A El Naggar; Adel A El-Zahhar; Mohamed H Taha

doi:10.1039/d3dt02696e

Nickel-hydroxide-encapsulated polyacrylamide as a novel adsorptive composite for the capture of methylene blue from wastewater

Dalton Trans. 2023 Oct 10;52(39):14194-14209. doi: 10.1039/d3dt02696e.

Authors

A Marey¹, Marzouk Adel², Ahmed M A El Naggar³, Adel A El-Zahhar⁴, Mohamed H Taha⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Basic Science, The Valley Higher Institute for Engineering & Technology, Al-Obour 11828, Egypt.
² Aluminum Sulphate Company of Egypt, Egypt.
³ Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI), Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt. drmeto1979@yahoo.com.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 9004, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Nuclear Materials Authority, P. O. Box 530, El Maddi, Cairo, Egypt.

PMID: 37755437
DOI: 10.1039/d3dt02696e

Abstract

The wastewater released from different industries is a major environmental issue that has grabbed significant attention lately. Thus, the implementation of suitable routes for the treatment of such water is strongly recommended to reach the level of possible reuse for either industrial or agricultural purposes. In line with such a concept, this research work introduces a new composite structure made via the coating of polyacrylamide by loading nickel hydroxide nanoparticles for use as an absorbent for the purification of wastewater from dye contaminants. High internal phase emulation (HIPE) polymerization was utilized to first prepare particles of polyacrylamide followed by their coating with particles of nickel hydroxide to ultimately obtain the designated adsorbent. The structural features and chemical composition of the synthesized composite were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and energetic dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and N₂ adsorption-desorption surface area analysis were employed to detect the textural characteristics of the composite. Subsequently, the efficiency of this structure, as an adsorbent for the disposal of methylene blue dye species from a wastewater sample, was studied. During the water purification process, several operating parameters, namely, retention time, solution pH, initial concentration, and absorbent dose, were investigated. The presented Ni-polyacrylamide composite achieved the promising removal of methylene blue dye. An increased adsorption capacity of 14.3 mg g^-1 toward methylene blue was achieved by the composite, thanks to the presence of both organic and inorganic functional groups within its structure. Kinetic and isotherm studies for the adsorption of methylene blue species were found to fit pseudo-second-order and Langmuir models. Additionally, thermodynamic measurements indicated that the adsorption process of methylene blue is feasible, spontaneous, involves physisorption, and is endothermic.