Volume 13, Issue 2, February 2015, Pages 485–496
Fatima Tariq1 and Uzaira Rafique2
1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
2 Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Environment is confronted with a variety of natural and synthetic organic compounds in its compartments, following rapid industrialization and urbanization. These continuously growing challenges elevate the need for implementing the clean and cost effective technologies. The plan of the present investigation is the copolymerization of natural and synthetic materials for the development of adsorbents followed by its application for the removal of environmental pollutants. Starch is selected as natural biopolymer and cyclodextrin represents the synthetic polymer. Both materials are copolymerized and further modified with the Cabbage fibres and epichlorohydrin as cross linker.
FTIR analysis reveals the presence of cyclodextrin in the synthesized copolymer through stretching vibration of -CH2, -C-O-C at 2931cm-1 and 1016cm-1, respectively. On the other hand, starch based copolymer cross linked with epichlorohydrin is identified by the absorption band of epoxy group at 931cm-1. The presence of terminal and internal epoxy group at 763cm-1 and 669cm-1 also supports the synthesis. The SEM illustrated wider cavities that are expected to enhance the uptake capacity of modified copolymers for organic moieties. The inclusion complex of β-Cyclodextrin depicts rectangular features with milky white surface. The samples were scanned 10-71 of 2θ by steps of 0.015 with Cu K α radiation (λ = 1.54059) operating at 40 kv and 100 mA.
The synthesized Copolymers were applied as adsorbents in a batch experiment to determine efficiency for the removal of a wide range of environmental pollutants. The results of UV-Vis disclosed that crystal violet and congo red is removed to a comparable extent. Atomic absorption analysed the Lead (85-95%) is more efficiently removed than Chromium (60-70%). It might be related to higher molecular weight of the former than the later. Similarly, the fused aromatic rings demonstrated less removal for pyrene (202.25g/mol) than anthracene (178.23g/mol). The synthesized copolymers were also applied for the adsorption of PCBs from transformer oil to present model of in-situ remediation.
Author Keywords: β-Cyclodextrin, Starch, Transformer oil, Epichlorohydrin, Cabbage leaf powder.
Fatima Tariq1 and Uzaira Rafique2
1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
2 Department of Environmental Sciences, Fatima Jinnah Women University, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Original language: English
Copyright © 2015 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Environment is confronted with a variety of natural and synthetic organic compounds in its compartments, following rapid industrialization and urbanization. These continuously growing challenges elevate the need for implementing the clean and cost effective technologies. The plan of the present investigation is the copolymerization of natural and synthetic materials for the development of adsorbents followed by its application for the removal of environmental pollutants. Starch is selected as natural biopolymer and cyclodextrin represents the synthetic polymer. Both materials are copolymerized and further modified with the Cabbage fibres and epichlorohydrin as cross linker.
FTIR analysis reveals the presence of cyclodextrin in the synthesized copolymer through stretching vibration of -CH2, -C-O-C at 2931cm-1 and 1016cm-1, respectively. On the other hand, starch based copolymer cross linked with epichlorohydrin is identified by the absorption band of epoxy group at 931cm-1. The presence of terminal and internal epoxy group at 763cm-1 and 669cm-1 also supports the synthesis. The SEM illustrated wider cavities that are expected to enhance the uptake capacity of modified copolymers for organic moieties. The inclusion complex of β-Cyclodextrin depicts rectangular features with milky white surface. The samples were scanned 10-71 of 2θ by steps of 0.015 with Cu K α radiation (λ = 1.54059) operating at 40 kv and 100 mA.
The synthesized Copolymers were applied as adsorbents in a batch experiment to determine efficiency for the removal of a wide range of environmental pollutants. The results of UV-Vis disclosed that crystal violet and congo red is removed to a comparable extent. Atomic absorption analysed the Lead (85-95%) is more efficiently removed than Chromium (60-70%). It might be related to higher molecular weight of the former than the later. Similarly, the fused aromatic rings demonstrated less removal for pyrene (202.25g/mol) than anthracene (178.23g/mol). The synthesized copolymers were also applied for the adsorption of PCBs from transformer oil to present model of in-situ remediation.
Author Keywords: β-Cyclodextrin, Starch, Transformer oil, Epichlorohydrin, Cabbage leaf powder.
How to Cite this Article
Fatima Tariq and Uzaira Rafique, “Synthesis of Agro- based Copolymers for Treatment of Waste,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 485–496, February 2015.
