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Polylactic acid/nano chitosan composite fibers and their morphological, physical characterization for the removal of cadmium(II) from water
Author(s) -
Thomas Merin S.,
Pillai Prasanth K. S.,
Faria Marisa,
Cordeiro Nereida,
Kailas Lekshmi,
Kalarikkal Nandakumar,
Thomas Sabu,
Pothen Laly A.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.48993
Subject(s) - electrospinning , polylactic acid , materials science , adsorption , crystallinity , composite number , inverse gas chromatography , chitosan , nanofiber , composite material , membrane , chemical engineering , fiber , scanning electron microscope , surface energy , chemistry , polymer , organic chemistry , biochemistry , engineering
This work discusses the fabrication of polylactic acid (PLA)/nano chitosan (nCHS) composite fibers by electrospinning method for Cd 2+ metal ion adsorption from water. Here nCHS was synthesized by ionic gelation method and which is used as a reinforcement for PLA. The scanning electron microscopic analysis revealed that the addition 0.1 wt% nCHS has decreased the fiber diameter as well as the secondary pore size and hence imparted unique properties to electrospun composite fibers. The positive zeta potential values for the composites indicated their higher stability, though; the inclusion of nCHS reduced the crystallinity of the neat membranes. The contact angle measurements showed that the hydrophilicity of the composite was increased up to 0.1 wt% nCHS, and hence the surface energy was increased. Inverse gas chromatography results suggested that the basic character of the composites has intensified with the increase in nCHS addition. The adsorption capacity of the neat electrospun PLA and PLA–nCHS composites for Cd 2+ ions were investigated and studies revealed that adsorption capacity of the composite was two times faster (approximately 70%) in comparison with neat PLA fibers. The increase in surface area as well as presence nCHS improved the adsorption capacity of the electrospun membrane.