Sequential removal of aniline and heavy metal ions by jute fiber biosorbents: A practical design of modifying adsorbent with reactive adsorbate

The benefits of expanding lifecycle of adsorbent can reduce the cost and environmental impacts in waste adsorbent disposal and adsorbent fabrication, which gives value to the waste. In this study, the extending lifetime of jute fiber based biosorbents for sequentially remedying aniline and heavy metal ions was demonstrated by a simple and practical chemical conversion. After jute fibers were firstly used for adsorbing aniline from water, the surface-adsorbed aniline was polymerized by using ammonium persulfate initiator at 5 degrees C to form a PANI overlayer, and the resulting PANI/jute fiber composites exhibited effective metal ion decontamination from water. The influence of parameters such as sorbent dosage, solution pH and contaminant concentration on the removal efficiency was investigated. The equilibrium adsorption, thermodynamics, kinetics and removal mechanism also were exhibited. The crude jute fibers showed a moderate adsorption capacity of 8.43 mg.g(-1) for aniline removal. After in-situ polymerization of aniline on the surface of jute fibers, the resulting PANI/jute fiber composites can effectively remove and reduce metal ions. The maximum adsorption capacity for Cd(II) and Cr(VI) reached to 140 and 50 mg.g(-1) respectively. The most meaningful contribution of this study was to provide a new approach of adsorbent regeneration and waste disposal for developing a sustainable water treatment technology. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.