Adsorption of rutin from olive mill wastewater using copolymeric hydrogels based on N-vinylimidazole: Kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamics assessments

Olive mill wastewater, also known as olive wastewater, contains biologically active components with various beneficial effects on health. The development of novel adsorbent materials for the recovery of these biologically active substances is important area of research. In this study, copolymeric hydrogels based on N-vinylimidazole (VIm), a new material that has never been used as an adsorbent in the separation of phenolic components, were synthesized. The hydrogels synthesized in this study is copolymer structures based on N-vinylimidazole (VIm) containing [2-(methacryloxy) ethyl] dimethylpentylammonium bromide (QDMAC5) in different moles. QDMAC5 was obtained by quaternization of 2-(dimethylamino) ethyl methacrylate (DMA) with 1-bromopentane (C5). The production of copolymer hydrogels was carried out by free radical solution polymerization. The syntheses were carried out only by changing the monomer composition so that the crosslinker ratio remained constant (1.2 mol%). The QDMAC5 content in the copolymers was 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 mol%. So, the resulting structures were named PVQ-5%, PVQ-10%, PVQ-20%, PVQ-30%, and PVQ-50%, respectively. Functional group characterizations of hydrogels were made by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR). The surface of the hydrogels was analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Finally, thermogravimetric analyzes (TGA) were performed to investigate the thermal degradation behavior. The recovery of the rutin present in olive mill wastewater has been investigated as a model study. Kinetic data has been represented by the selected models (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and intraparticle diffusion) convincingly (R-2 > 0.76), while the equilibrium findings have fitted well to Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin equations (R-2 > 0.77). Rutin adsorption process on N-vinylimidazole (VIm) based copolymeric hydrogels has been found as exothermic and spontaneous chemisorption process depending on the thermodynamic analysis.

Automated summary

In this study, copolymeric hydrogels based on N-vinylimidazole were synthesized as adsorbents for the recovery of biologically active substances in olive mill wastewater. The hydrogels were characterized by FTIR and SEM, and their thermal degradation behavior was investigated. The results showed that the hydrogels exhibited good adsorption performance for rutin in olive mill wastewater.