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A superabsorbent hydrogel for removal of dyes from aqueous solution

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Abstract

The removal of dye pollutants from dyeing and printing industrial wastewater is a very important issue, and different methods have developed for this purpose. Here, a hydrogel adsorbent gelatin/chitosan/β-cyclodextrin/sodium humate (GEL/CS/β-CD/SH) was developed by a simple method for removal of the reactive dyes in aqueous solutions. The hydrogel used as an adsorbent had a good adsorption to different kinds of organic dyes. In this work, we focused on the adsorption process of GEL/CS/β-CD/SH hydrogels to the cationic dyes methylene blue (MB) and anionic dyes acid fuchsin (AF), which are commonly used in the printing and dyeing industry. The effects of dye solution pH, ionic strength, temperature, and contact time were investigated in a batch system. The adsorption thermodynamic and dynamic behaviors towards AF and MB were investigated in detail. The adsorption process could occur spontaneously at environmental temperature. The results indicated that the maximum adsorption capacity of AF and MB reached 1666.7 mg/g and 714.3 mg/g, respectively. Moreover, the GEL/CS/β-CD/SH hydrogel could be degraded completely by microorganisms in the soil. Therefore, GEL/CS/β-CD/SH hydrogel has a potential application as an effective adsorbent for the treatment of dyeing wastewater.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21665024), the Basic Project of Science and Research of Colleges and Universities of Gansu Province (5001 − 109) and the Project for Young Teacher of Northwest Normal University (NWNU-LKQN-13-6).

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  1. Chemistry & Chemical Engineering College, Key Lab of Polymer Materials of Ministry of Education of Ecological Environment, Key Lab of Bioelectrochemistry & Environmental Analysis of Gansu, Northwest Normal University, 730070, Lanzhou, PR China

    Jie Ren, Ruirui Li, Xuemiao Wang, Meng Li & Wu Yang

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  1. Jie Ren
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Ren, J., Li, R., Wang, X. et al. A superabsorbent hydrogel for removal of dyes from aqueous solution. J Polym Environ 30, 3327–3339 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-022-02434-0

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