Sono-assisted preparation of bio-nanocomposite for removal of Pb2+ ions: Study of morphology, thermal and wettability properties

Abstract

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) loaded poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) composites, with different CNT contents, were fabricated through an ultrasound assisted method as a fast and green way. Then, the obtained composites were fully characterized via FT-IR, UV–Vis, XRD, TGA, FE-SEM and TEM, etc. For this purpose, PET bottle was recycled and applied as matrix of nanocomposites (NC)s. Then, we dispersed the covalent functionalization of MWCNTs with a protein dispersant and obtained a powder of protein-functionalized CNTs. Bio-functionalized MWCNTs showed higher Pb²⁺ removal efficiency compared to MWCNT-COOH as ascertained via batch equilibrium adsorption experiments. Also, the results indicated the novel NCs presents a high affinity for Pb²⁺ heavy metal owing to the presence of several good sites. The contact angle results indicated that the addition of MWCNT-BSA increased significantly the contact angle compared to the pure PET. It was concluded that inflame retarding feature of NC was higher than pure polymer.