Eco-friendly Copolymer Grafted Loess Particles for Rapid and Efficient Removal Pollutants in Wastewater

Loess (Lo) is a resource-rich natural mineral material mainly composed of clay and other mineral components, which has the advantages of low price and large specific surface area. The grafting polymer is an effective strategy for improving the adsorption effect of Lo. In this paper, using KH-570 as a modifier, N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP), maleic anhydride (MA), vinyl acetate (VAc) and acrylic acid (AA) as functional monomers, eco-friendly copolymers (PMN and PMVA) were grafted onto surface of loess particles (LoPs), which afforded two kinds of eco-friendly copolymer grafted loess particles (LoP-PMN and LoP-PMVA). After being characterized by FTIR, SEM, XRD, TG and BET, their adsorption performance were investigated. It was found that LoP-PMN and LoP-PMVA could rapidly adsorb pollutants within 5 min, which the removal of methylene blue and Cu2+ got to 85.22% and 86.01%, respectively. It could also adsorb other pollutants, such as methylene blue, rhodamine B, basic fuchsin, malachite green, Cu2+ and Pb2+ for comprehensive application in organic dyes and heavy metal ions removal. It showed that LoP-PMN and LoP-PMVA were single-layer and multi-layer adsorption, respectively. Thus, the prepared eco-friendly copolymer grafted loess particles exhibited significant potential and value in the field of wastewater treatment.

Automated summary

In this study, eco-friendly copolymers were successfully grafted onto the surface of loess particles using KH-570 as a modifier and NVP, MA, VAc, and AA as functional monomers. The resulting copolymer grafted loess particles exhibited rapid adsorption of pollutants, with removal rates of 85.22% for methylene blue and 86.01% for Cu2+. They also showed potential for comprehensive application in the removal of organic dyes and heavy metal ions, indicating their significance in wastewater treatment.