Preparation of novel nano-adsorbent based on organic–inorganic hybrid and their adsorption for heavy metals and organic pollutants presented in water environment

The nanocomposites based on organic–inorganic hybrid have been attracting much attention due to their potential applications used as new type of functional materials, such as colloidal stabilizers, electro-optical devices, and nanocomposites materials. The organic–inorganic hybrid of poly(acrylic acid-acrylonitrile)/attapulgite, P(A-N)/AT nanocomposites, were prepared by using in situ polymerization and composition of acrylic acid (AA) and acrylonitrile (AN) onto modified attapulgite (AT) nanoparticles. The resulting P(A-N)/AT nanocomposites were transformed into novel nano-adsorbent of poly(acrylic acid-acryloamidoxime)/attapulgite by further functionalization, i.e. P(A-O)/AT nano-adsorbent. The adsorption properties of P(A-O)/AT toward metal ions were determined, and the results indicated that the adsorbents with nanocomposite structure held a good of selectivity to Pb2+ among numerous metal ions. The maximum removal capacity of Pb2+ was up to 109.9mg/g and it is notable to see that the adsorption removal of P(A-O)/AT nano-adsorbent for Pb2+ could achieve more than 96.6% when the initial concentration of Pb2+ was 120.0mg/l. The kinetics, isotherm models, and conductivity were introduced to study the adsorption mechanism of P(A-O)/AT for Pb2+ and it was concluded that it could be chemisorptions process and the best coordination form took place when AO:AA:Pb2+=1:1:1. In addition, after simply treated with CTAB, P(A-O)/AT nano-adsorbent showed better adsorption properties for phenol than the same kinds of materials.