Preparation of millimeter-sized chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose hollow capsule and its dye adsorption properties

Abstract In this study, millimeter-sized chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose (CTS/CMC) hollow capsules with molar ratio of 1/1 and 1/1.5 were successfully prepared by simple mixing and stirring of positively charged CTS and negatively charged CMC solutions under electrostatic interaction. The hollow capsule exhibited distinct removal performance for three typical dyes of methylene blue, methyl orange and acid blue-113 with different charged functional groups. The dye removal was mainly occurred on the hollow capsule membrane instead of the interior of hollow capsule. Typically, The CTS/CMC hollow capsule showed semi-permeability characteristics for methyl orange adsorption as the porous structure of the hollow capsule membrane. After the dye adsorption, the dyes also can release from the hollow capsules with different rates. The unique performance of CTS/CMC hollow capsule might have potential applications in the dye removal, the mixed dye wastewater separation and drug release.