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Sustainable Water Purification and Energy Generation Over Crystalline Chitosan Grafted Polyaniline Composite

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Abstract

The present research demonstrates the design and development of a dual-compartment water purification proto-plant for microbial degradation of organic waste using microbial fuel cell technology and adsorptive removal of inorganic pollutants present in sewage water using highly crystalline chitosan grafted polyaniline (CHIT-g-PANI) and rice husk derived adsorbent. The materials were characterized by UV–Vis, infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and relevant standard methods. The observed results revealed the highly crystalline, biocompatible, porous nature of CHIT-g-PANI as electrode materials for effective microbial degradation of organic wastes of sewage water for generating electricity and water purification. Thus, observed parameters were power density of 6.496 w/m2, sustainable usability for 20 days, and removal of organic waste by 97% from sewage water. Furthermore, the above partially treated water was passed through an adsorption chamber filled with rice husk-derived adsorbents, which removes the 84.5% inorganic impurities of its original concentrations.

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Acknowledgment

The authors are thankful to the Principal, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi, for permission to use their laboratory and Prof. R. C. Sharma, Department of Applied Chemistry and Polymer Technology, Delhi Technological University, for the technical discussions and suggestions. One of us CSK is thankful to the council of scientific and industrial research, India [No. 08/ 642(0002)/2016-EMR-I], for granting fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110075, India

    Chandra Shekhar Kushwaha, N. S. Abbas & Saroj Kr. Shukla

  2. Department of Chemical Sciences, Doornfontein Campus, University of Johannesburg, P.O. Box 17011, Johannesburg, 2028, South Africa

    Sudheesh K. Shukla & Penny P. Govender

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  1. Chandra Shekhar Kushwaha
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  2. Sudheesh K. Shukla
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Correspondence to Saroj Kr. Shukla.

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Kushwaha, C.S., Shukla, S.K., Govender, P.P. et al. Sustainable Water Purification and Energy Generation Over Crystalline Chitosan Grafted Polyaniline Composite. J Polym Environ 29, 3744–3755 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-021-02129-y

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