Bacterial cellulose/PANi mat for Cr(VI) removal at acidic pH

Remediation of hexavalent chromium - Cr(VI) at acidic pH using polyaniline coated bacterial cellulose porous mat (BC/PANi) is presented and the possible mechanism is discussed. The efficacy of BC/PANi mats in remediation of Cr(VI) was studied by varying pH (pH 1, 2, 3, and 5) and initial Cr(VI) concentrations (250-1000 ppm) of the solution. The BC/PANi (50 mg) mat was able to completely reduce 2000 ppm Cr(VI) into Cr(III) in a 20 ml solution at pH similar to 1 in 24 h. An increasing chromium removal efficiency was observed with decreasing solution pH; reaching a maximum removal capacity of similar to 920 mg/g at pH 1. The proposed mechanism of negatively charged Cr(VI) ions removal by BC/PANi mat is adsorption and simultaneous reduction into Cr(III), followed by desorption of Cr(III) from the mat. The role of temperature and co-existing anions like sulphate, nitrate and chloride found in industrial sludge were also investigated for removal efficiency of Cr(VI) at acidic pH similar to 1. The adsorption kinetics of Cr(VI) on polyaniline surface followed a pseudo-second-order model with reduction of Cr(VI) into Cr(III) as rate-limiting step. The reduced Cr(III) from the media was further recovered by neutralizing the pH of the solution.