Characterization of reactive amphiphilic montmorillonite nanogels and its application for removal of toxic cationic dye and heavy metals water pollutants

The present work aims to reduce the water surface tension using dispersed organophilic clay minerals to increase the adsorption water pollutants (organic and inorganic) into the clay galleries. Therefore, sodium montmorillonite (Na-MMT) was functionalized with amphphiles based on crosslinked nanogel polymers of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm), sodium 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonate (Na-AMPS), acrylamide (AAm) and acrylamidopropyl)trimethylammonium chloride solution (APTAC) using surfactant free technique. The chemical interactions between nanogels and Na-MMT and their chemical structure were confirmed by FTIR analysis. The intercalation and exfoliation of Na-MMT were confirmed by wide-angle X-ray diffraction. The morphology of Na-MMT nanogel composites was investigated by TEM analysis. The adsorption capacities of the prepared Na-MMT nanogels for methylene blue dye, cobalt and nickel cations from water were investigated. The data indicated that the Na-MMT nanogels reduced the surface tension of water and efficiently remove dye and metal ions from water.

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