Investigation of adsorption activity of poly(acrylamide-styrene)/bentonite nanocomposite for efficient removal of manganese ions from aqueous solution

Removal of heavy metals which are produced from industrial and agricultural processes is essential due to their adverse effects on the environment. In the present work, polyacrylamide-polystyrene/bentonite nanocomposite was easily synthesized through in situ polymerization and used for the removal of manganese ions from aqueous solutions. The properties of the nanocomposite synthesized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller and thermogravimetric analysis techniques. Then, at the optimum values (pH = 6, contact time = 12 h, adsorbent value = 5 g and manganese ion concentration = 150 ppm), the manganese ions (cations) in the solution were adsorbed by the nanocomposite adsorbent polyacrylamide-polystyrene/bentonite and the amount of absorption was measured by atomic absorption, which was 84.2% and 82.1% for analyze and real sample, respectively.