Functionalized PET Waste Based Low-Cost Adsorbents for Adsorptive Removal of Cu(II) Ions from Aqueous Media

The widespread use of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in the packaging industry has led to the discharge of huge amounts of such waste into the environment and is an important source of pollution. Moreover, because the degradation of PET waste requires a very long time (over 180 years), the recycling of this waste is the only solution to reduce environmental pollution in this case. The solution proposed in this study, is the transformation of PET waste into granular adsorbent materials by functionalization with different phenolic compounds (phenol, p-chlor-phenol, and hydroxyquinone), and then their use as adsorbent materials for removing metal ions (ex. Cu(II) ions) from aqueous solutions. The functionalization of PET waste was done with different amounts (2-8 g) of each phenolic compound. The adsorption capacity of obtained materials was tested at different initial Cu(II) ions concentrations, in batch systems, at room temperature (20 +/- 1 degrees C). The experimental results have shown that the adsorbent material obtained by the functionalization of PET waste with 8 g of phenol has the best adsorptive performances (q = 12.80 mg g(-1)) at low initial concentrations of Cu(II) ions, while the adsorbent material obtained by the functionalization of PET waste with 2 g of hydroxyquinone is more efficient in removal of high concentrations of Cu(II) ions (q = 61.73 mg g(-1)). The experimental isotherms were modeled using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, to highlight the adsorptive performances of these new adsorbents and their potential applicability in environmental decontamination processes.