Chitosan/(polyvinyl alcohol)/zeolite electrospun composite nanofibrous membrane for adsorption of Cr6+, Fe3+ and Ni2+

In this study, chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/zeolite nanofibrous composite membrane was fabricated via electrospinning. First, crude chitosan was hydrolyzed with NaOH for 24 h. Afterward, hydrolyzed chitosan solution was blended with aqueous PVA solution in different weight ratios. Morphological analysis of chitosan/PVA electrospun nanofiber showed a defect-free nanofiber material with 50:50 weight ratio of chitosan/PVA. Subsequently, 1 wt.% of zeolite was added to this blended solution of 50:50 chitosan/PVA. The resulting nanofiber was characterized with field emission scanning electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, swelling test, and adsorption test. Fine, bead-free nanofiber with homogeneous nanofiber was electrospun. The resulting membrane was stable in distilled water, acidic, and basic media in 20 days. Moreover, the adsorption ability of nanofibrous membrane was studied over Cr (VI), Fe (III), and Ni (II) ions using Langmuir isotherm. Kinetic parameters were estimated using the Lagergren first-order, pseudo-second-order, and intraparticle diffusion kinetic models. Kinetic study showed that adsorption rate was high. However, the resulting nanofiber membrane showed less adsorption capacity at high concentration. The adsorption capacity of nanofiber was unaltered after five recycling runs, which indicated the reusability of chitosan/PVA/zeolite nanofibrous membrane. Therefore, chitosan/PVA/zeolite nanofiber can be a useful material for water treatment at moderate concentration of heavy metals.