Removal of Anionic Dye Congo Red from Aqueous Environment Using
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Removal of anionic dye Congo red from aqueous environment using polyvinyl alcohol/sodium alginate/ ZSM‑5 zeolite membrane Sabarish Radoor1*, Jasila Karayil2, Jyotishkumar Parameswaranpillai1 & Suchart Siengchin1* In this study, a novel PVA/SA/ZSM‑5 zeolite membrane with good regeneration capacity was successfully prepared by solvent casting technique. The properties of the membranes were assessed by employing diferent characterization techniques such as X‑ray difraction (XRD), Fourier‑transform infrared spectroscopy (FT‑IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), optical microscopy (OP), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), contact angle and universal testing machine (UTM). XRD, TGA and UTM results revealed that the crystallinity and thermo‑mechanical performance of the membrane could be tuned with zeolite content. The successful incorporation of zeolite into the polymer matrix was confrmed by FT‑IR, SEM and OP analysis. The adsorption ability of the as‑prepared membrane was evaluated with a model anionic dye, Congo red. Adsorption studies show that the removal efciency of the membrane could be tuned by varying zeolite content, initial concentration of dye, contact time, pH and temperature. Maximum dye adsorption (5.33 mg/g) was observed for 2.5 wt% zeolite loaded membrane, at an initial dye concentration of 10 ppm, pH 3 and temperature 30 °C. The antibacterial efciency of the membrane against gram‑positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram‑negative bacteria (Escherichia coli) was also reported. The results show that membrane inhibits the growth of both gram‑positive and gram‑negative bacteria. The adsorption isotherm was studied using two models: Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm. The results show that the experimental data ftted well with Freundlich isotherm with a high correlation coefcient (R2 = 0.998). Meanwhile, the kinetic studies demonstrate that pseudo‑second‑order (R2 = 0.999) model describe the adsorption of Congo red onto PVA/SA/ZSM‑5 zeolite membrane better than pseudo‑frst‑order (R2 = 0.972) and intra particle difusion model (R2 = 0.91). The experimental studies thus suggest that PVA/SA/ZSM‑5 zeolite could be a promising candidate for the removal of Congo red from aqueous solution. Majority of industries dumped untreated water directly into water bodies, thus contaminating it with toxic metals, dyes, pesticides and insecticides1–3. Te severity of water pollution is scaling up steadily thus making it one of the major issues to be solved by the urban world. Water pollution is not only a threat to the environment but it also adversely afects humans and aquatic species 4,5 It is estimated that 17–20% of industrial water pollution comes from dyeing industries 6. Azo dye is the main class of synthetic dye which represents about 90% of all organic colorant7. Congo red (CR) is one of the best examples for azo dye and is chemically known as sodium salt of 3, 3′-([1,1′-biphenyl]-4,4′-diyl) bis (4-aminonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid)8. It is widely used in wood, pigment, textile, dyeing, plastic and printing industries 9–13. It is toxic in nature and pose a threat to both humans and animals. It causes several health issues in humans such as anorexia, weakness and gastrointestinal irritation14,15. As it is a benzidine based dye, it is suspected to have carcinogenic and mutagenic property16,17. Congo red enters into the water bodies through several industrial efuents. Owing to its high structural stability, it is quite resistant 1Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, The Sirindhorn International Thai-German Graduate School of Engineering (TGGS), King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, 1518 Wongsawang Road, Bangsue, Bangkok 10800, Thailand. 2Government Women’s Polytechnic College, Calicut, Kerala, India. *email: [email protected]; [email protected] SCIENTIFIC REPORTS | (2020) 10:15452 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-72398-5 1 Vol.:(0123456789) www.nature.com/scientificreports/ towards biodegradation and thus Congo red persist as contaminant in water environment for a long period of time. In this context, it is worthwhile to fnd a suitable adsorbent for the removal of Congo red from water18. Water quality could be improved by various treatment methods such as focculation, ion exchange, ozonation and adsorption19–22. Adsorption technique is one of the frequently adapted methods to improve the quality of water23–25. Te interest in this technique comes from its ecofriendly and cost-efective nature, availability of wide range of adsorbent, simple experimental setup and regeneration of adsorbent26. Synthetic adsorbent exhibits high efciency for the removal of toxic metals and dyes from aqueous medium. Terefore, it has been widely used to improve the quality of polluted water 27,28. However, most of the synthetic adsorbents are toxic in nature and causes environmental pollution. Tus in recent years, there is great scientifc interest in employing natural adsorbents such as clay, zeolite, date stones, rice husk and orange peel for dye removal studies29–33. Polymers and polymer composites have been successfully used as adsorbent for water purifcation purpose. Te properties such as good stability, reusability and selectivity, make them one of the promising candidates for water treatment purpose34–36. Ample reports are available in literature regarding the use of polymer composite membranes for removing textile dyes from water37–39. For instance, Mahmoodi et al.40 developed PVA-chitosan nanofber and reported its ability to remove anionic dye such as Direct Red and Reactive Red from water. Recently, Hu and coworker41 developed tannic acid/PVA/sodium alginate hydrogel bead which exhibit excellent adsorption power (adsorption capacity: 147.06 mg/g) for methylene blue. Kloster et al.42 reported that chitosan/ iron oxide flms could be a potential adsorbent for Congo red and possess sorption capacity of 700 mg/g. Kalan- tari et al.42 investigated the dye adsorption ability of chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol/talc composite and reported that the prepared composite displayed good adsorption efciency for Congo red as well as methyl orange. Similarly, 43 Habiba et al. successfully employed electro spun chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol/TiO2 nanofber for the removal of Congo red and methyl orange from water. Zhao et al.44 proposed kaolin/calcium alginate membrane as a suitable adsorbent for the removal of toxic dye (brilliant blue G250, Congo red, and methylene blue). Te membrane exhibits removal rate of 100%, 95.22%, and 62.86%, respectively for brilliant blue G250, Congo red, and meth- ylene blue. Zhang et al.45 developed a novel chitosan/alginate sponge using freeze dry method and employed it for the removal of Congo red from aqueous medium. Based on the experimental result they report that 0.1 g of adsorbent has high removal efciency (98.97%) for Congo red. Zeolite is a naturally occurring aluminosilicate with wide range of application ranging from catalysis to water purifcation46,47. High surface area along with porous nature is responsible for its remarkable adsorption power48,49. Te porosity of zeolite could be modifed by several techniques such as templating method, dealumina- tion, desilication etc.50–52. Zeolite containing both micro and mesopores are termed as hierarchical zeolites and are superior to conventional zeolite. Zeolites based polymer composites have been successfully employed for the removal of toxic contaminants from water 53,54. However, there is no report on the usage of hierarchical zeolite- based polymer composite for the removal of Congo red from water. So, we thought it worthwhile to synthesis a hierarchical zeolite and employed it to fabricate an ecofriendly polymer membrane for Congo red removal. Te polymer we choose for the current work is polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA), which are both ecofriendly and biocompatible in nature. Te dye adsorption efcacy of the prepared membrane in terms of vari- ous experimental conditions such as zeolite loading, initial dye concentration, contact time, pH and temperature was investigated. Te antibacterial activity and the reusability of the prepared membrane is also presented. Te adsorption isotherm and kinetics of Congo red adsorption onto the membrane is also highlighted in this paper. Methods Materials. Te polymers polyvinyl alcohol (C2H4O, Mw = 130,000: hydrolysis degree: 99%) and anionic dye, Congo red ((C32H22N6Na2O6S2); purity: 99.0%) was purchased from Ajax Finechem Pvt. Ltd. (Tailand). Te crosslinking agent glutaraldehyde (C5H8O2) were procured from Loba Chemie Products Limited. (Tailand). Sodium alginate ((C6H7NaO6)n, average Mw = 60,000) were obtained from Nice chemical Pvt. Ltd. (India). Tetra propyl ammonium hydroxide ((CH3CH2CH2)4NOH, TPAOH), tetraethyl orthosilicate (C8H20O4Si, TEOS) and aluminum isopropoxide (C 9H21AlO3, AIP) were procured from Sigma Aldrich Co. Ltd (India). Soluble starch (C6H10O5)n which was used as templating agent were of reagent grade and was procured from Merck (India). All the chemicals used in the study were of analytical grade and were used as received without further purifcation. Te polymer solution and dye solution were prepared in distilled water. Figure 1 depicts the chemical structure of the materials used in the study. Fabrication of hierarchical ZSM‑5 zeolite. Te procedure for the synthesis of hierarchical ZSM-5 zeo- lite is briefy described below. To the properly mixed tetra propylammonium hydroxide (TPAOH; 2.11 g) and aluminum isopropoxide (AIP;