Radiation synthesis and characterization of styrene/acrylic acid/organophilic montmorillonite hybrid nanocomposite for sorption of dyes from aqueous solutions

Organophilic montmorillonite (OMMT) was synthesized by cationic exchange reaction of Na⁺-MMT and vinyl benzyl triethyl ammonium chloride (VBTAC) as a reactive organic modifier in an aqueous solution. A series of styrene (St)/acrylic acid (AA)/OMMT nanocomposite hydrogel containing different wt% of OMMT was synthesized through in situ polymerization using γ-ray. The samples were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscope (TEM), whereas thermal stability was examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption capacity and rate for both Acid Green B (anionic) and Maxilon C.I. Basic (cationic) dye including adsorption kinetics and isotherm were investigated at 30C. TEM measurements showed spherical nanosized particles of average diameter 30-40 nm and XRD suggested the formation of exfoliated nanocomposite. TGA measurements showed that the addition of OMMT did not enhance the thermal stability where the onset temperature of the degradation for all samples was around 125C. The effect of some important parameters on dye adsorption such as solution pH, initial dye concentration, and contact time was investigated. The equilibrium data obtained in batch experiments were correlated to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm equations. Results showed that the adsorption of Acid Green B fitted well to the Langmuir model while the adsorption pattern of Maxilon C.I. Basic followed the Freundlich isotherm, which suggests heterogeneity of the adsorption sites on the nanocomposite. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:2353-2364, 2014.