Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan-Grafted-Poly(2-Hydroxyaniline) Microstructures for Water Decontamination

Chitosan as a biopolymer, biodegradable, safe, non-toxic and widely abundant in nature was grafted with poly(2-hydroxyaniline) (P2-HA) through aqueous chemical oxidative copolymerization using ammonium persulphate in acetic acid medium. The grafting conditions were studied by varying grafting parameters. The effect of oxidant, 2-hydroxyaniline (2-HA) and acetic acid concentrations on the rate of copolymerization was studied. The synthesized graft characterized using UV-Vis, FTIR, TGA, XRD, and scanning electron microscope and compared with chitosan and P2-HA. The grafting enhances the thermal properties of chitosan. The effect of temperature on the rate of grafting copolymerization reaction was studied. The apparent activation energy (Ea) of the copolymerization reaction found to be 21.1116 kJ/mol. Also, Delta H-* and Delta S-*, were calculated and found to 22.8630 kJ/mol and -109.4290 J/mol K respectively. The mechanism of the grafting copolymerization reaction discussed. Chitosan, P2-HA and chitosan-graft-P2-HA used for the removal of Cr, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn divalent ions from a contaminated water samples. The adsorption isotherm parameters are given.