Easy-handling bamboo-like polypyrrole nanofibrous mats with high adsorption capacity for hexavalent chromium removal

Yingqing Zhan; Shuangjiang He; Xinyi Wan; Jieming Zhang; Bangcui Liu; Jinfeng Wang; Zhenyu Li

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2018.06.033

Easy-handling bamboo-like polypyrrole nanofibrous mats with high adsorption capacity for hexavalent chromium removal

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2018 Nov 1:529:385-395. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.06.033. Epub 2018 Jun 18.

Authors

Yingqing Zhan¹, Shuangjiang He², Xinyi Wan², Jieming Zhang², Bangcui Liu², Jinfeng Wang³, Zhenyu Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, 8 Xindu Avenue, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China; State Key Lab of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, 8 Xindu Avenue, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China. Electronic address: 201599010032@swpu.edu.cn.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, 8 Xindu Avenue, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China.
³ Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia.
⁴ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, 8 Xindu Avenue, Chengdu, Sichuan 610500, China; Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria 3217, Australia. Electronic address: zhenyu.li@deakin.edu.au.

PMID: 29940321
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2018.06.033

Abstract

Development of highly efficient and easy-handling absorbents for heavy metals removal is desirable for the remediation of our existing aquatic system. Herein, we demonstrated the novel bamboo-like polypyrrole nanofibrous mats for the removal of highly toxic hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from aqueous solution. To achieve this target, the V₂O₅ nanofibrous templates were prepared via non-emulsion electrospinning technique and calcination, followed by in-situ polymerization of pyrrole. Benefiting from the special porous structure, high surface area and abundant adsorption active sites, the resulting bamboo-like polypyrrole nanofibrous mats exhibited a high Cr(VI) adsorption capacity up to 961.5 mg g^-1 at room temperature, which can be well maintained for five adsorption/desorption cycles. The adsorption capacity for Cr(VI) can be enhanced with the decrease of pH and adsorption process belonged to the pseudo-second-order model. Furthermore, the adsorption isotherms of bamboo-like polypyrrole nanofibrous mats fitted the Langmuir isotherm model, and the adsorption mechanism of electrostatic attraction between bamboo-like polypyrrole nanofibers and Cr(VI) was presented. More importantly, the flexible and integrated bamboo-like polypyrrole nanofibrous membrane allowed easy handling during application, which is potentially used for heavy metal removal from aqueous solution.

Keywords: Adsorption; Bamboo-like; Equilibrium; Hexavalent chromium; Kinetics; Polypyrrole.