Facile and cost-effective preparation of PVA/modified calcium carbonate nanocomposites via ultrasonic irradiation: Application in adsorption of heavy metal and oxygen permeation property

Abstract

This work is focused on the fabrication and determination of physicochemical behaviors of new poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposites (NCs) containing various contents of calcium carbonate (CC) nanoparticles modified with γ-aminopropyl triethoxy silane (ATS) (henceforth designated as CC-ATS) which could be a crucial treatment for their application as gas barrier to O₂ gas and uptake of metal ions in waste waters. Samples were produced through the solution casting method under ultrasound irradiation. Thermal and mechanical performances were also evaluated for all ultrasonically synthesized nanocomposites and the results indicated that thermal and mechanical stability are dramatically enhanced by addition of a small amount of modified CC-ATS within PVA up to 5 wt% and higher amounts has low effect on the composite properties. The result of oxygen gas permeability of PVA showed a 25.44% reduction by adding of 5 wt% of CC-ATS into polymer matrix. Experimental adsorption isotherm data indicated that PVA NC has more efficiency for Cu(II) adsorption relative to pure PVA and well simulated by Langmuir model with maximum adsorption capacity of 45.45 mg g⁻¹. Moreover, study of sorption kinetic indicated that the solute adsorption on PVA/CC-ATS NC 5 wt% was well modeled using the pseudo-second-order.