Development of an amine-type adsorbent by electron beam-induced emulsion grafting of glycidyl methacrylate onto a nonwoven fabric

In the recent years, radiation-induced graft polymerization of various monomers onto different types of trunk polymers have been extensively used for researchers on adsorbents for cations, anions and different compounds, battery separators, antibacterial bandages, protein separators, and fuel cell applications. Some of these technologies were transferred to end-users and eventually commercialized. In most of these studies, a post-grafting reaction is performed to introduced chemical groups that impart functionality to the grafted material. In this paper, pre-irradiation technique was used for emulsion grafting of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto an electron beam irradiated abaca-polyester nonwoven fabric (APNWF). The dependence of degree of grafting (Dg), calculated from the weight of APNWF before and after grafting, on irradiation dose, reaction time and monomer concentration were studies. After 50 kGy irradiation with 2 MeV electron beam and subsequent 3-hour reaction with an emulsion consisting of 5% GMA and 0.5% polyoxyethylene sorbitan monolaurate (Tween 20) surfactant in deionized water at 40 degree centegrade, a grafted APNWF with a Dg greater than 150% was obtained. The GMA grafted APNWF was further modified by reaction with ethylenediamine (EDA) in isopropyl alcohol at 60 degree centegrade to introduce amine functional groups. A 3-hour reaction with 50% EDA resulted to an amine group density of 2.7 mmole/gram-adsorbent. Preliminary batch adsorption experiments using Cu2+ and Ni2+ ions in aqueous solutions show that the adsorption capacity of the grafted adsorbent is four times greater for Cu2+ ions compared to Ni2+ ions. (author)