Synthesis of a starch-acrylic acid-chitosan copolymer as flocculant for dye removal

Flocculants prepared with modified natural polymers have recently attracted extensive attention in the field of water treatment. In this work, acrylic acid was successfully grafted onto the backbones of starch and chitosan by free radical polymerization. The synthesis parameters of initiator concentration, reaction temperature, and neutralization degree of acrylic acid were optimized as 0.4 wt %, 50 degrees C, and 70%, respectively, according to the flocculation performance. The ternary copolymer starch-acrylic acid-chitosan (SAAC) could completely remove Acid Blue 113 from 100 mg/L of simulated wastewater (color removal efficiency 99.7%) at the flocculant dosage of 100 mg/L. The SAAC also had effective flocculation capability in a wide range of flocculant dosages and pH values of wastewater. The ternary copolymer based on two natural polymers has enormous potential as flocculant with its advantages of low price, ecofriendliness, and high performance. (c) 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 47437.