Heavy Metals Removal from Contaminated Water Using Poly(Acrylamide-co-Acrylic Acid)-Sodium Alginate Flocculant Obtained by Electron Beam Irradiation

Abstract

The goal of the paper is to present the obtaining, characterization and testing of a new type of polyelectrolyte based on acrylamide, acrylic acid and sodium alginate for flocculation purposes. Polyelectrolytes, also called flocculants, were obtained by electron beam irradiation in atmospheric conditions and at room temperature. They have been characterized using various physical and chemical methods in order to determine conversion coefficient, residual monomer content, intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight. The heavy metals removal (Cu 2+ and Cr 6+) was evaluated at room temperature on synthetic water having the contents of 0.05 wt/vol % CuSO4 and 0.05 wt/vol % K2Cr2O7, respectively.