Synthesis of Titania PEG-Alginate Bionanocomposites for Treatment of Hazardous Pollutants from Wastewater

Abstract

The ever-growing industrial sector has resulted in enhanced production of wastewater which requires to be treated efficiently to meet stringent discharge requirements and climate change consequences. This study investigated the performance of synthesized Titania nanotubes incorporated in polyethylene glycol (PEG) and sodium alginate (SA) bionanocomposite beads for treatment of textile wastewater. Removal efficiency, adsorption capacity, kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics of fabricated beads was also studied. Titania nanotubes and Titania PEG-alginate bionanocomposites beads were characterized through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), BET, XRD and TGA. Titania PEG-alginate bionanocomposites beads showed higher dye removal efficiency of 89% as compared to 69% using PEG-alginate bionanocomposite beads without Titania nanotubes. The results instigated that higher surface area of tubular morphology of Titania nanotubes facilitated increased adsorption capacities (~282 mg/g) of dye compared to neat beads without Titania nanotubes. Kinetic study revealed that pseudo second order kinetics is followed in adsorption of pollutant’s molecules on polymer matrix’s surface. Moreover, isotherm study devised that the adsorption process is best fit to Freundlich isotherm, while Langmuir and Temkin isotherms were also evaluated. Stability study showed that bionanocomposites beads were more stable with PEG in comparison to beads without PEG. The practicability of hybrid bionanocomposite beads is further investigated in fluidized bed membrane reactor as fluidized media to evaluate membrane fouling mitigation and removal efficiency of Methylene blue.