In this paper, the blend nanofiber (poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/chitosan (CS)/diethylenetriamine (DETA)/ethylenediamine (EDA): PVA/CS/DETA/EDA) was prepared by electrospinning and cross‐linked by glutaraldehyde. The cross‐linked blend nanofiber by glutaraldehyde (CBNG) was characterized by FTIR and SEM. The homogenous surface diffusion model (HSDM) was used for expressing the dye adsorption on CBNG from colored wastewater. Experimental data were used to calculate the isotherm parameters as well as the kinetic parameters describing mass transfer resistances due to film diffusion (kf) and diffusion coefficient (Ds). The sum square error (SSE) values for the adsorption of Acid Red 18 (AR18), Direct Blue 78 (DB78), and Direct Red 23 (DR23) were 0.0221, 0.0632, and 0.0038, respectively. Thus, the experimental and theoretical data showed a good agreement. Dye removal by CBNG followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo‐second order kinetics models. Thermodynamic studies indicated dye adsorption onto the nanofiber was an endothermic, spontaneous, and physisorption process. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 1634–1642, 2017

In this paper, poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofiber was prepared and modified by diethylenetriamine (DETA) and ethylenediamine (EDA) in the presence of glutaraldehyde (GA). Dye removal ability of the modified nanofiber (PVA/DETA/EDA/GA) as a nanoadsorbent from water was studied. Fourier transform Infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to investigate the characteristics of the modified nanofiber. Direct Red 23 (DR23) and Direct Blue (DB78) were used. The effect of operational parameters such as pH, initial dye concentration, contact time, temperature and adsorbent dosage on dye removal was studied. The dye adsorption isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamics were investigated. The maximum dye adsorption capacity of the modified nanofiber was 370 and 400 mg/g for DR23 and DB78, respectively. Four isotherms, the Langmuir, the Freundlich, Tempkin and a modified Langmuir-Freundlich model were used. Dye adsorption on the modified nanofiber followed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second kinetic order. Thermodynamic data showed that dye removal was a spontaneous, endothermic and physisorption process.