Copper Oxide Nanoparticles as a Novel Adsorbent for Separation of Acrylic Acid from Aqueous Solution: Synthesis, Characterization, and Application

Recently, nanoparticles as adsorbents have received great attention due to their notable properties. In this regard, the acrylic acid adsorption from aqueous medium was examined by utilizing copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles. In this research, initially, CuO nanoparticles were synthesized using a simple precipitation technique. CuO nanoparticles were characterized by Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyzes. CuO nanoparticles synthesized were in nano scale size ranged between 140 and 180 nm. FTIR analysis also confirmed the functional groups of CuO nanoparticles. Lastly, the effects of contact time (30-240 min), concentration of acrylic acid (2-10% w/w), temperature (25-55 degrees C), and CuO nanoparticle dosage (0.05-0.25 g) on the adsorption of acrylic acid with CuO nanoparticles were examined. The optimum adsorption conditions were obtained as the contact time of 180 min, the concentration of acrylic acid of 10% (w/w), nanoparticle dosage of 0.05 g, and temperature of 25 degrees C. At these conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity of CuO nanoparticles for acrylic acid was found as 202.67 mg g(-1). This result confirmed that the synthesized CuO nanoparticles exhibited good adsorption performance towards to acrylic acid.