Amino-functionalized polystyrene/carboxymethyl cellulose brush latex for removal of dye contaminants from water

In this study, a novel hairy-like latex (PSADC) was created by reacting a core of poly(styrene-co-2-aminoethyl methacrylate hydrochloride) (PSA) with oxidized carboxymethyl cellulose (DACMC) via a Schiff-base reaction. The synthesis of these customized systems was achieved by combining direct and inverse miniemulsion polymerization for the adsorption of the cationic dye crystal violet (CV) from wastewater. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta-potential (ζ-potential), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The adsorbent PSADC and PSA nanoparticles attained their maximal adsorption capacities for crystal violet at pH 9 and 30 °C, with values of 1948 mg g^-1 and 684 mg g^-1, respectively. Moreover, the kinetics and thermodynamics of the adsorption process were evaluated to investigate the sorption mechanism and feasibility. Thus, both hybrid adsorbents show favorable, exothermic, monolayer adsorption behavior with pseudo-second-order equilibrium kinetics. After five adsorption-desorption cycles, the designed nanospheres still maintained 82% and 73% removal effectiveness for PSADC and PSA, respectively, demonstrating remarkable reusability. These results emphasize the potencial of PSADC as a cost-effective, selective, and superior adsorbent for cationic dyes in water.