Adsorption of hexavalent chromium from wastewater using polyaniline-coated microcrystalline cellulose nanocomposites

In this study, the effectiveness of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) as an adsorbent for the removal of hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), from synthetic wastewater was enhanced through functionalization with polyaniline (PANI). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that MCC was an effective scaffold for in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline. FTIR spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction confirmed successful PANI synthesis. The MCC/PANI nanocomposites exhibited relatively high specific surface areas, compared to that of the MCC (2.05 m2 g-1). Batch adsorption studies showed that the optimal conditions for the removal of Cr(VI) from wastewater using the MCC/PANI-69 wt.% nanocomposite were an initial Cr(VI) concentration of 100 mg L-1, an adsorbent dosage of 4 g L-1 and a Cr(VI) solution pH of 7. The MCC/PANI-69 wt.% required only 30 min to reach equilibrium and equilibrium removal efficiency was 95%. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry results suggest that the Cr(VI) removal mechanism by the MCC/PANI-69 wt.% nanocomposite at pH 7 was through electrostatic attraction of Cr(VI) species by PANI, reduction of Cr(VI) into Cr(III) and precipitation of Cr(III) on the nanocomposite surface. The kinetics for the removal of the Cr(VI) by the MCC/PANI-69 wt.% nanocomposite were adequately described by the pseudo second order (PSO) kinetics model, whereas the Langmuir isotherm adequately described the equilibrium data. The MCC/PANI-69 wt.% nanocomposite had a significantly improved maximum adsorption capacity of 35.97 mg g-1, at pH 7, in comparison to that of the MCC (3.92 mg g-1 at pH 1). The study demonstrated that, whereas most of the reported adsorbents for Cr(VI) are only effective at low pH values, the MCC/PANI nanocomposite synthesized in this study was effective at pH 7.