Effective removal of dyes from aqueous solutions using a novel antibacterial polymeric adsorbent

Here, ethylenediamine-epichlorohydrin-trichlorophenol (EET) cross-linked polymer was synthesized and characterized by Fourier Transforms Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). EET exhibited substantial antibacterial activity with inhibition zones of 38 and 64 mm againstE. coliandS. aureusbacteria. Therefore, it was applied to treat methyl orange (MO) and rhodamine B (RB) dyes containing synthetic aqueous solutions under varying operation parameters. Notably, 10 and 15 mg of EET removed 98.72% of MO at pH 8 and 92.45% of RB at pH 3. Moreover, EET cross-linked polymer retained stable activities of about 98.6% over five consecutive recycling runs for MO dye. The EET demonstrated a fast adsorption rate and the adsorption data fits well with the pseudo-second-order for both dyes, suggesting chemisorption. Also, considering the correlation coefficient values, the experimental dataset fits suitably with Temkin equation for RB and Langmuir equation for MO. Thermodynamic evaluations for both dyes show spontaneity onto the cross-linked polymer. Graphical abstract