Preparation of selective ion adsorbent by photo curing with acrylic and phosphoric acid on jute yarn

Jute yarns were cured with acrylic acid (AA) and phosphoric acid (PA) using UV radiation in order to prepare selective ion adsorbent. A series of formulations were prepared in methanol containing varying percentages of (10–70 %) of AA and 2 % photo-initiator (PI) (Darocur-4043). jute yarns were soaked in this formulation for various soaking times (10–30 min) and cured under UV radiation of different intensities (20–50 UV passes). Concentration of AA, soaking time and intensity of UV radiation were optimized based on polymer loading (PL). The maximum PL (21 %) was observed for 50 % AA solution for 20 min soaking time at 40 UV passes. Various formulations were prepared using 5–15 % (w/w) of phosphoric acid, 50 % AA and 2 % PI in methanol. Then jute yarns were soaked in this solution for 20 min and irradiated at 40th UV pass. The concentration of PA was again optimized for maximum PL. It was found that the formulation containing 10 % PA, 50 % AA, 38 % methanol and 2 % PI showed 70.95 % of PL. To investigate the adsorbent behavior, a 10 ppm CuSO 4 solution was prepared and then grafted yarns were soaked in the solutions for 30–300 min at different conditions. After withdrawing the yarns, the remaining copper in the solution were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). It was revealed that copper was successfully removed by using the grafted jute yarns.