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Membrane Water Treatment Volume 11, Number 3, May 2020 , pages 231-235 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/mwt.2020.11.3.231 |
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Improved adsorption performance of heavy metals by surface modification of polypropylene/polyethylene media through oxygen plasma and acrylic acid |
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Jeongmin Hong, Seungwoo Lee, Dongah Ko, Eunmi Kwon and Yuhoon Hwang
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| Abstract | ||
| Industrialization and modern developments have led to an influx of toxic heavy metals into the aquatic environment, and the accumulation of heavy metals has serious adverse effects on humans. Among the various heavy metal treatment methods, adsorption is very useful and frequently used. Plastic materials, such as polypropylene and polyethylene, have been widely used as filter media due to their mechanical and chemical stability. However, the surface of plastic material is inert and therefore the adsorption capability of heavy metals is very limited. In this study, granular media and fiber media composed of polypropylene and polyethylene are used, and the surface modification was conducted in order to increase adsorption capability toward heavy metals. Oxygen plasma generated hydroxyl groups on the surface of the media to activate the surface, and then acrylic acid was synthesized on the surface. The grafted carboxyl group was confirmed by FT-IR and SEM. Heavy metal adsorption capability of pristine and surface modified adsorbents was also evaluated. Overall, heavy metal adsorption capability was increased by surface modification due to electrostatic interaction between the carboxyl groups and heavy metal ions. Fibrous PP/PE showed lower improvement compared to granular PP media because pore blockage occurred by the surface modification step, thereby inhibiting mass transfer. | ||
| Key Words | ||
| Polypropylene, polyethylene, oxygen plasma, acrylic acid, heavy metals | ||
| Address | ||
| Jeongmin Hong,Yuhoon Hwang: Department of Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul 01811, Korea Seungwoo Lee: Department of Fine Chemistry, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul 01811, Korea Dongah Ko: Innovation Centre Denmark, Seoul 04637, Korea Eunmi Kwon: ECOSTAR Co., Ltd., Gyeonggi-do 16295, Korea | ||
