Application of polypyrrole coated on wood sawdust for removal of Cr(VI) ion from aqueous solutions

In this study polypyrrole (PPy) was synthesised chemically on the surface of sawdust that has already been soaked with monomer solution (pyrrole). FeCl3 were used as chemical oxidants for oxidation of pyrrole into polymer (PPy/Cl). The sawdust coated by PPy (PPy/SD) was used as an efficient sorbent for removal of Cr(VI) ion from aqueous solutions. It was found that PPy/SD is very easy and simple to prepare and can be used as an effective sorbent for removal of Cr(VI) from water and wastewater solutions. The Cr(VI) removal is assumed to be mainly due to the anion exchange properties of the polymer which is formed as PPy+/Cl−. The introduced sorbent in this paper shows that PPy/SD can be used to eliminate or separate anionic contaminations from aqueous solutions under open circuit conditions.