Adsorption ability evaluation of the poly(methacrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/cloisite 30B nanocomposite hydrogel as a new adsorbent for cationic dye removal

The performance of poly(methacrylic acid-co-acrylamide)/Cloisite 30B nanocomposite (poly(MAA-co-AAm)/Cl30B) hydrogel to adsorb methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solutions was investigated and the adsorption efficiency was improved by incorporating Cloisite 30B nanoclays in the adsorbent structure. The hydrogels were analyzed using FTIR, XRD, TGA, and SEM analysis. The effect of adsorbent dose, temperature, initial dye concentration, contact time, and pH on the efficiency of the adsorption process was investigated. Adsorption efficiencies of 98.57 and 97.65% were obtained for poly(MAA-co-AAm)/Cl30B nanocomposite and poly(MAA-co-AAm) hydrogels, respectively. Kinetic study revealed that the adsorption process followed pseudo-first-order kinetic model and α-parameter values of 6.558 and 1.113 mg/g.min were obtained for poly(MAA-co-AAm)/Cl30B nanocomposite and poly(MAA-co-AAm) hydrogels, respectively indicating a higher ability of nanocomposite hydrogel in adsorbing MB-dye. In addition, the results of the intra-particle diffusion model showed that various mechanisms such as intra-particle diffusion and liquid film penetration are important in the adsorption. The Gibbs free energy parameter of adsorption process showed negative values of −256.52 and −84.071 J/mol.K for poly(MAA-co-AAm)/Cl30B nanocomposite and poly(MAA-co-AAm) hydrogels indicating spontaneous nature of the adsorption. The results of enthalpy and entropy showed that the adsorption process was exothermic and random collisions were reduced during the adsorption. The equilibrium data for the adsorption process using poly(MAA-co-AAm)/Cl30B nanocomposite and poly(MAA-co-AAm) hydrogels followed Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity values of 32.83 and 21.92 mg/g were obtained for poly(MAA-co-AAm)/Cl30B nanocomposite and poly(MAA-co-AAm) hydrogels, respectively. Higher adsorption capacity of nanocomposite hydrogel was attributed to the presence of Cloisite 30B clay nanoparticles in its structure. In addition, results of RL, n, and E parameters showed that the adsorption process was performed optimally and physically.