Removal of Pb2+, Ni2+ and Cd2+ Ions Using Pyrrole Linked 4,4’-diaminodiphenyl Sulphone Copolymer Nanocomposite

Oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (o-MWCNT) incorporated pyrrole (PPy) and 4, 4’-diaminodiphenyl sulphone (DDS) polymer nanocomposite (PPy-co-DDS/o-MWCNT) was prepared through in situ chemical oxidative polymerization. The molecular structure of PPy-co-DDS/o-MWCNT nanocomposite was characterized by attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy (ATR), diffuse reflective ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (DRS UV-vis), Raman spectroscopy. The crystallographic profiles of nanocomposite were evaluated by x-ray diffraction analysis and thermal stability of adsorbent was examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology of polymer nanocomposite adsorbent was studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) with selective area electron diffraction pattern (SAED). The adsorption behaviour of PPyco-DDS/o-MWCNT nanocomposite showed high adsorption capacity (470 mg/g, 462 mg/g, 452 mg/g) towards corresponding heavy metal ions, such as Pb(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II) in aqueous solution. The PPy-co-DDS/o-MWCNT nanocomposite shows fast and spontaneous process for the removal of heavy metal ions adsorption and the kinetics followed a pseudo second order rate equation (R2»0.99). This result is perhaps due to the part of electrostatic attraction served as an oxidized MWCNT can be incorporated to the PPy-co-DDS structure to improve the removal of heavy metal ions of fabricated PPy-co-DDS/o-MWCNT copolymer nanocomposite.