Removal of methylene dye using composites of poly (styrene-co-acrylonitrile) nanofibers impregnated with adsorbent materials

Aim: The current study focus on the evaluation of the enhancing effect of carbonaceous materials incorporation on poly (St-co-AN) nanofibers adsorptive capacity towards cationic methylene blue dye. Materials & methods: Poly (St-co-AN) nanofibers were fabricated using the electrospinning technique. The polymeric material was impregnated with natural materials such as graphite and carbon nanotubes to enhance the formed nanofibers adsorptive properties. The formed nanofibers were applied in the removal of Methylene Blue dye from wastewater. The removal process parameters such as (initial pollutant concentration, pH of the medium, and treatment time) have been studied. Isothermal and kinetic studies of Methylene Blue adsorption ontothe nanofibers surface were done to investigate the adsorption process behavior. Results & discussions: The heat of sorption was evaluated by Temkin to be 25.34 J/mol.and also q(m) of poly (AN-co-St), Poly (AN-co-St)/graphite and Poly (AN-co-St)/CNTs are found 17.77,20.34 and 24.69 mg/g, respectively. The mechanism of the removal proves was found to be chemisorptions according to boyd and Elovich models, in addition to the uniform activity distribution onto the surface of poly(St-co-AN) nanofibers with a monolayer coverage of methylene blue molecules by Langmuir. Pseudo 2nd order is more appropriate to describe the adsorption process. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.