Fabrication of Chitosan Monolith by Thermally Induced Phase Separation of Chemically Modified Chitin to Remove Cu(II) Ions from the Water Solutions

Abstract

Chitosan (CS), an amino-polysaccharide, has applications in various areas, particularly in drinking water and wastewater treatment, with highly efficient properties for binding metal ions. Monoliths have been developed continuously for several decades, and today they hold an impressively strong position in highly efficient separation, ion exchange, catalysis, and chromatography. In our previous study, hierarchical chitin (CT) monolith was fabricated using chemically modified CT through the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method. This report generated highly effective, stable, and reusable CS monoliths by deacetylation of CT monoliths. The acquired monoliths demonstrated efficient removal of metal ions from the aqueous solution in a flow system. In order to gain durability in acidic and basic environments, epichlorohydrin (ECH) was used as a crosslinking agent. The crosslinked monoliths exhibited excellent performance in the adsorption of Cu(II) ions from the solution, and good reusability in multiple adsorption-desorption cycles without losing significant performance. The fabricated CS monolith can be modified and applied to various fields such as protein separation, catalyst, and drug delivery.