Gum ghatti and acrylic acid based biodegradable hydrogels for the effective adsorption of cationic dyes

• Graft co-polymer of Gum ghatti with acrylic acid was synthesized.
• Polymer degraded successfully with Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
• Biodegradation wad evidenced using FT–IR and SEM.
• Polymer showed excellent biosorption properties for methylene blue and rhodamine B.
• Maximum adsorption efficiency of 909.09 mg/g and 819.67 mg/g was observed for MB and RhB, respectively.

This article reports biosorption properties of Gum ghatti and acrylic acid based graft co-polymers for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RhB). Gg–cl–PAA removed 99% MB and 98% RhB from the respective dye solutions. Adsorption isotherm followed Langmuir isotherm with maximum adsorption capacity of 909.09 mg/g (MB) and 819.67 mg/g (RhB). Both the dyes followed pseudo second order rate equation. Eco-friendliness of Gg–cl–PAA was studied by assessing its susceptibility to biodegradation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and mineral salt medium (MSM). Gg–cl–PAA degraded faster in PBS (18%) than MSM (15.1%) using P. aeruginosa.