Modified polyamide fiber for arsenic adsorption

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] In the United States, China, Bangladesh, India and many other countries in the world, arsenic (As) existing in some drinking water supplies has caused serious health concerns because of the carcinogenic nature of As. US EPA estimates that approximately 2% of the US population is using potable water containing >10 [mu]g/L arsenic, the maximum contaminant level of arsenic under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The focus of this work is to develop a cheap and convenient adsorbent for drinking water purification. Successful surface modification of PA6 fiber was performed by graft polymerization of acrylamide. Potassium peroxide was used as an initiator to create active sites on PA surface. Comparatively excellent properties were achieved under the condition of 30 min initiating, and 0.03g/L acrylamide grafting after initiating at 60 [degrees]C. The novel material showed good adsorption capacity of 0.647 mg As(V)/g adsorbent. The surface area was 0.024 m2/g, relatively low compared with other common absorbents, and competitive ions such as nitrate and acetate have effects on As adsorption.