Raja S. Azarudeen

Polymeric nanocomposites for the removal of Acid red 52 dye from aqueous solutions: Synthesis, characterization, kinetic and isotherm studies

Polymeric nanocomposites polyaniline-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PAPV) and polyaniline-polyvinylpyrrolidone-neodymium/zinc oxide (PAPV-NZO) were synthesized for the effective dye removal through adsorption process. Neodymium doped zinc oxide (NZO) with various proportions of neodymium were prepared by chemical co-precipitation method and incorporated into the copolymer matrix via oxidative polymerization technique. NZO nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the morphological features, and functional group linkages of the PAPV-NZO were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. Acid red 52 dye was chosen as a synthetic toxic effluent to study the removal efficiency of the nanocomposites with different parameters viz. time, concentration, adsorbent dosage and pH. The studies were performed under visible light irradiation and the residual dye concentration was analyzed by UV-visible spectrophotometer. PAPV-NZO exhibited greater dye removal rate than PAPV due to the incorporation of NZO that enhanced the conducting nature, stability and surface area of PAPV-NZO. The optimum concentration of the dye and the adsorbent dosage of the PAPV-NZO were determined to be 80 ppm and 50 mg, respectively. At acidic condition of pH 2, the removal capacity of PAPV-NZO was found 99.6%. Kinetic and isotherm models have been studied on the optimum parameters to investigate the nature of the adsorption process. The process followed pseudo second order kinetics and was best suited to the Langmuir model. The maximum dye adsorption capacity of PAPV-NZO was estimated to be 159.36 mg g-1. From the results, it can be assured that the PAPV-NZO can be effectively used for the removal of dye pollutants in water.

Studies of Retention and Reusable Capacities of Melamine Formaldehyde Based Terpolymer Against Some Toxic Metal Ions by Batch Equilibrium Method

Chelating terpolymer resin was synthesized and characterized by elemental, physico-chemical, spectral, SEM, XRD, and GPC to elucidate the structure and properties of the terpolymer. Ion-exchange analysis involving evaluation of metal ion uptake in different electrolyte concentrations, pH, and time have been studied to assess the retention capacities of the terpolymer for the metal ions viz. Fe3+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, and Pb2+. The adsorption isotherm was evaluated using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms models and the results were found best fitting with each other. The resin can be successfully used in the field of recovery of metal ions from effluents and contaminated water.

Separations of toxic metal ions using a novel polymeric composite: Synthesis, characterizations, kinetics, isotherm models and thermal degradation studies

ABSTRACT A composite material was prepared using terpolymer and activated charcoal. The material was spectrally characterized, and the morphology and thermal stability were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. From the metal ion sorption results, it was found that the composite material had significantly removed the selected metal ions from the aqueous solution. This may be due to the highly porous nature and the larger specific surface area of the composite. The results were well fitted with the Langmuir isotherm and follow the first-order kinetics. The thermal degradation kinetics and thermodynamic parameters were also calculated from thermogravimetric data and reported.

Transition Metal Complexes of a Novel Polymeric Ligand: Thermal Degradation Kinetics and In Vitro Antibacterial Applications

A novel polymeric ligand poly(2-amino-3-((2-methyl-4-nitrophenylamino)methyl)benzoic acid) was synthesized using solution condensation technique in acid medium. Metal complexes were prepared using the polymer as ligand. The synthesized ligand and its metal complexes were characterized by FTIR, electronic, ESR and NMR (1H and 13C) spectroscopy. The number, weight, size average molecular weights of the ligand were calculated by gel permeation chromatography. The surface morphology and the nature of the synthesized compounds were examined by SEM and XRD. The thermal behavior of the compounds was determined by thermogravimetric analysis. Thermal degradation kinetics such as activation energy (Ea), order of reaction (n) and thermodynamics viz. entropy change (ΔS), apparent entropy (S*), frequency factor (Z) and free energy change (ΔF) were also evaluated for the ligand and its metal complexes by Freeman–Carroll, Sharp–Wentworth methods. Thermal degradation mechanistic model was also proposed by Phadnis–Deshpande method. In vitro antibacterial assay was analyzed for the synthesized compounds against various pathogenic bacterial strains such as Shigella sonnei, Escherichia coli, Klebseilla species, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhimurium species. From the assay, the ligand and its metal complexes possess commendable antibacterial activity and hence the synthesized compounds can act as potential antibacterial agents.