Atrazine adsorption removal with nylon6/polypyrrole core-shell nanofibers mat: possible mechanism and characteristics

A functionalized nylon6/polypyrrole core-shell nanofibers mat (PA6/PPy NFM) was prepared via situ polymerization on nylon6 electrospun nanofibers mat (PA6 NFM) template and used as an adsorbent to remove atrazine from aqueous solutions. The core-shell structure of PA6/PPy NFM can be clearly proved under scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effects of initial solution pH and ionic strength, as well as the comparison of the adsorption capacity of functionalized (PA6/PPy NFM) and non-functionalized (PA6 NFM) adsorbent, were examined to reveal the possible adsorption mechanism. The results indicated that p-p interaction and electrostatic interaction should play a key role in the adsorption process. The kinetics and thermodynamics studies also further elucidated the detailed adsorption characteristics of atrazine removal by PA6/PPy NFM. The adsorption of atrazine could be well described by the pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption equilibrium data was well fitted with the Freundlich isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity value of 14.8 mg/g. In addition, the increase of adsorption rate caused by a temperature increase could be felicitously explained by the endothermic reaction. The desorption results showed that the adsorption capacity remained almost unchanged after six adsorption/desorption cycles. These results suggest that PA6/PPy NFM could be employed as an efficient adsorbent for removing atrazine from contaminated water sources.