UV/O 3 Preirradiated Cotton Fabric-Containing Chitosan for Effective Removal of Heavy Metals

The present work aims at studying the effect of Ultra-Violet/Ozone (UV/O3) irradiation of cotton fabrics on their interaction with chitosan/citric acid based formulation and, the onset of this on the ability of treated fabrics to remove heavy metal ions from their aqueous solutions. To achieve the goal, the cotton fabrics were preirradiated for 90 minutes using UV/O3 as radiation source. The irradiated and the unirrdadiated cotton fabrics were submitted to finishing formulation consisting essentially of chitosan as a finishing agent and citric acid as crosslinking agent in combination with sodium hypophosphite (SHP) as a catalyst. Finishing formulation containing different concentrations of chitosan (0 - 4) along with citric acid (8 g/l) and SHP (4 g/l) were used and the interaction of chitosan with the cotton fabric was assessed through nitrogen measurement. The preirradiated and chemically finished fabrics vis-a-vis the unirrdadiated fabrics were examined for metal ion removal. Results conclude that the preirradiated cotton fabrics exhibit higher nitrogen content than the unirrdadiated fabrics. The same holds true for heavy metal removal, exemplified by Zn2+ and Cd2+ ions from their aqueous solutions. That is, preirradiated fabrics containing chitosan display higher percent heavy metal removal than their unirrdadiated mates.