Poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide-acrylic acid) microgels as adsorbent for removal of toxic dyes from aqueous medium

Abstract Poly( N -isopropylmethacrylamide-acrylic acid) [pniM-Ac] microgel particles were synthesized by surfactant free radical precipitation polymerization method. Microgel particles were used as adsorbent for the removal of toxic dyes such as Congo red (CR) (anionic), methylene blue (MB) (cationic) and Rhodamine B (Rh-B) (cationic) from aqueous medium at ambient temperature. Due to presence of carboxylate groups inside the polymer chains of microgel particles, uptake of cationic dyes such as MB and Rh-B was high as compared to anionic dye CR at low temperature and high pH of the medium. But at high temperature, microgel particles were shrunken and their hydrophobicity was increased. Under such conditions, uptake of anionic dye CR was high due to increased hydrophobic interaction between polymer chains of microgel particles and dye molecules. Effect of dye concentration, adsorbent dose, pH of the medium and agitation time on the percentage removal of dyes was also investigated and their optimum values were determined. Langmuir isotherm model best explained the adsorption of CR, MB and Rh-B on microgel particles. Pseudo second order has well explained the kinetics of adsorption of all dyes on microgel system as compared to other kinetic models as reflected by the values of regression coefficients (R 2 ). Mechanism of adsorption of all dyes on microgel particles was explained by intra-particle diffusion model. Microgel particles also showed high capacity to extract toxic dyes simultaneously from aqueous medium as compared to their individual adsorption. Pure and dye loaded microgel particles were analyzed by UV–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry. Size and morphology of microgel particles were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).