Carboxylate-Functionalized Polypropylene Nonwoven Fabrics for Removal of Cadmium Ions

Abstract

Abstract

  This research describes a modification of synthetic nonwoven materials for cadmium ion removal from wastewater. The performance of cadmium binding capacities of polypropylene (PP) fabrics with and without the modification of carboxylate functional groups was studied. PP nonwoven fabrics were functionalized by gamma radiation-induced polymer grafting of an acrylic acid and an itaconic acid monomers. Effects of gamma radiation dose and heating time on polymerization grafting were studied. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) analyses were performed to characterize the functional groups of poly (acrylic acid) (PAA) and poly (itaconic acid) (PIA) modified PP fabrics. ATR-FTIR spectra showed evidence of carboxyl groups of PP fabrics after grafting by only PAA. The fiber quality and surface morphology of PP fibers before and after polymer grafting were examined by optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy. Water permeability and static cadmium adsorption capacity measurements were conducted to show the performance of PP fabrics before and after PAA modification. It was found that the static cadmium adsorption capacities of PAA functionalized PP fabrics were not different from PP fabrics without the modification due to too low impact of hydrophilic property by PAA grafting.