Facile fabrication of polyacrylic acid-polyvinyl chloride composite adsorbents for the treatment of cadmium-contaminated wastewater

Facile fabrication of polyacrylic acid-polyvinyl chloride (PAA-PVC) composite adsorbents and their evaluation for Cd(II) adsorption is reported in this study. The sorbents were prepared via a simple phase inversion process by spinning PAA-PVC polymer blends into mixed solution of water and methanol. The prepared fibers were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, energy disperse X-ray microscopy and Fourier transform infra-red microscopy, and their sorption performances were evaluated by batch sorption experiments. Through sorption isotherm, the maximum sorption capacity was estimated as 331.59 mg/g using the Langmuir isotherm model. Intra-particle diffusion played a major role in reaching the adsorption equilibrium. Ion-exchange between the charged carboxyl groups of PAA and the Cd(II) solution was observed to be the main mechanism of Cd(II) sorption. This study is believed to pave way for preparing cost-effective polymeric composite sorbents for the removal of heavy metals from polluted waters.