Removal of textile dyes in wastewater using polyelectrolytes containing tetrazole groups

MARTINS ALHO, MIRIAM; CALDERA VILLALOBOS, MARTIN; PELAEZ CID, ALEJANDRA; HERRERA-GONZALEZ, A. M.

KOREAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2018

0256-1115

Textile dyes are some of the pollutants which have received the most attention because of the large volumeof wastewater generated by the textile industry. Removal by means of adsorption is one of the most versatile alternativesto treat these effluents. Even though different adsorbents such as activated carbons and mineral materials havebeen proposed, polymeric adsorbents are a viable alternative. This work reports for the first time the use of polyelectrolytePTZ and macroelectrolyte MTZ containing tetrazole groups as adsorbents useful in the textile dyes removal presentin aqueous solutions and wastewater. Because of the anionic character of the tetrazole group, MTZ exhibits selectiveadsorption capabilities for cationic dyes of up to 156.25mg·g1. The kinetic study of the process of adsorption showsthat PTZ and MTZ fit a pseudo second-order model. MTZ also shows utility as a flocculant agent in the treatment ofwastewater containing dyes Indigo Blue and Reactive Black. The results showed that PTZ and MTZ may be used in thetreatment of wastewater in a process of coagulation-flocculation followed by the treatment by adsorption. This twostagetreatment removed up to 95% of the dye present in the wastewater. As well as removing the dyes, the values forCOD, suspended solids, pH, and color of the wastewater decreased, thus significantly improving its quality.