pH-responsive and mechanical strong chitosan-based hydrogel reinforced with rice straw cellulose micro-fibrils for efficient removal of cu(II)

Straw and chitosan are underutilized raw materials, which could make a significant contribution to sustainable development. Herein, a novel chitosan-based hydrogel incorporating rice straw cellulose micro-fibrils (SCMF) was prepared to effectively remove Cu(II). FTIR and SEM showed that straw cellulose-g-poly (acrylic acid)/chitosan-g-poly (acrylic acid) interpenetrating polymer networks were prepared and the hydrogel SCCH had a 3D porous structure after cross-linking with AA. The swelling properties of SCCH were studied and compared in various pH solution. The results indicated that SCCH replayed pH responsibility, which had the largest and smallest swelling capacity at pH9.18 and pH4.00 respectively. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model can be effectively used to evaluate swelling kinetics of hydrogels. The effects of contact time and initial concentration on Cu(II) ion removal were investigated. The equilibrium adsorption capacity (Qe) was 209.2 mg/g and the obtained results indicated that the adsorption kinetics conformed to the pseudo-second-order. Chemical adsorption combined with porous physical adsorption endowed SCCH excellent swelling and adsorption properties. Tensile, compression, bending and twisting test convinced that SCMF played a significant role on the improvement of mechanical strength. This novel 3D porous chitosan-based hydrogel was identified to be a promising sorbent with advantages of excellent sorption and mechanical properties.