Development of grafted cotton fabrics ions exchanger for dye removal applications: methylene blue model

In this study, grafted cotton fabrics ions exchanger for methylene blue (MB) removal from wastewater was developed. This goal has achieved through two successive steps. The first step was concerned grafting of the fabrics with polyacrylonitrile followed by activation of the nitrile groups using hydroxylamine as the second step to induce ion exchange sites. Factors affecting the two steps were studied, and their impacts on the characters of the modified fabrics were monitored. FT-IR and TGA data provided evidence of the grafting and the amination. Furthermore, the morphological changes were mentioned via SEM investigations. Finally, the aminated grafted cotton fabrics were tested as an adsorbent for removing MB from the aqueous solutions. The adsorption process was carried out in a batch mode and the effects of the contact time, the initial dye ion concentration, the pH, and the temperature on the adsorption were investigated. The experimental results revealed that the prepared adsorbent is capable of removing more than 92% of MB molecules from synthetic solution of concentration up to 300 ppm at pH ranged from 3 to 11 at temperature varied from 25 to 55°C.