Equilibrium and Kinetic Behaviors of Cationic Dye Decolorization Using Poly (AN‐co‐Py)/ZrO2 Novel Nanopolymeric Composites.

Abstract: A novel nanopolymeric composite powdered material was prepared by physical immobilization of the sol‐gel prepared zirconia nanoparticles (ZrO2NPs) into poly (acrylonitrile‐ co‐pyrrole) (poly (AN‐co‐py)) copolymer. The prepared copolymer composite was characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transfer infrared spectrophotometer (FT‐IR). SEM images investigated its homogeneous spherical morphological structure with an average diameter of 60 nm. The potential of this nanopolymeric composite material to remove a basic dye (Basic Red 46) was evaluated in a batch process. The improvement in material dosage, solution pH, and temperature has positive impact on the dye decolonization process. The maximum dye decolonization was 87.7% that recorded using 0.5 g from the composite matrix within 150 min. The kinetic data analysis indicated that the dye adsorption is a second‐order process. The results indicated that the prepared nanopolymeric composite could be an alternative for more costly adsorbents used for dye removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]