Recent
developments in nanotechnology led to the incorporation
of many nanomaterials into consumer products. Disposal of such products
will lead to potential contamination of the environment. Nanomaterials
are emerging contaminants in water and show significant toxicity to
living systems. Considering the diversity in structure and properties,
removal of nanopollutants from water warrants novel methods and materials.
The objective of this study was to prepare PVA/gluten hybrid nanofibers,
which are nontoxic and biodegradable adsorbents for the extraction
of nanopollutants from water. Surface morphology, elemental composition,
and functional groups on the fiber surface were established using
microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Influence of analytical
factors such as experimental pH, time, and concentration of the pollutants
toward
establishing the efficiency of extraction were quantified using UV–vis
spectroscopy. Nanofiber mats with 5 wt % gluten exhibited high extraction
efficiency of 99% toward citrate-capped silver (Ag) and gold (Au)
nanoparticles with a maximum
adsorptive capacity of 31.84 mg/g for Ag NPs and 36.54 mg/g for AuNPs.
The kinetic and equilibrium adsorption data were interpreted using
Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models, and a potential adsorption
mechanism was suggested. The adsorption kinetics showed a pseudo-second-order
model for the extraction of nanoparticles. The prepared PVA/gluten
hybrid nanofibers can be utilized as an efficient low-cost adsorbents
for removal and recovery of metal nanoparticles from the aqueous environment.
Water soluble monomer like sodium p-styrene sulfonate (SSS) is copolymerized with hydrophobic and reactive monomer glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). The polymerization proceeds as dispersion and forms gels. The gel forming nature prevails even with other hydrophobic and hydrophilic monomers to form ternary polymeric systems. The swelling is dependent on polymer composition as well as the treatment history of polymers. SSS also induces ring opening of GMA to form 1,2-diols as confirmed independently by various model reactions. The ability of hydrogels to absorb various dyes indicates that owing to the anionic nature, hydrogels absorb cationic dyes nearly quantitatively. Because of their strong affinity to cationic species these hydrogel forming polymers are potentially useful in water purification applications as well as purification of proteins.
Polyurea films with controllable topologies and porosities were obtained by reacting different amines with hexamethyl diisocyanate at the liquid–liquid interface.
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