Enhancement of Pb(II) Adsorption and Antibacterial Performances of Sodium Alginate/Acrylic Acid Composite Hydrogel via Snowflake-like ZnO Modification

Hydrogel materials, due to their special three-dimensional network structure that can be used as adsorbents. The hydrogel combined with the inorganic nanomaterials has superior adsorption performance. Herein, we report that a snowflake-like nZnO/SA-co-AA composite hydrogel (NZCH) with a double network structure is synthesized via graft copolymerization of nano zinc oxide (nZnO) with sodium alginate (SA) and acrylic acid (AA). The hydrogel exhibits the adsorption efficiency of 200 mg/g, has a good effect in adsorbing Pb(II). Meanwhile, the hydrogel has an antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli of 99%. It holds broad prospects for obtaining this multifunctional hydrogel in the field of adsorbing Pb(II).