| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1373619 | Carbohydrate Polymers | 2016 | 10 Pages |
•Novel copolymers from xanthan gum and poly(acrylic acid).•All copolymers were crystalline and stronger polyanion than xanthan gum.•On mixing with Hg(II), they could effectively absorb metal ion.
Noble copolymers from xanthan gum (XG) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) were synthesised through surfactant mediated graft copolymerization. The copolymers were applied as a biosorbent for inorganic Hg(II) at higher concentration level (300 ppm). The copolymers were characterized using different analytical techniques which showed, the grafting principally occurred across the amorphous region of XG. Measurement of zeta potential and hydrodynamic size indicated, the copolymers were strong polyanion and possessed greater hydrodynamic size (almost in all cases) than XG, despite a strong molecular degradation that took place simultaneously during grafting. In the dispersed form, all grades of the copolymer displayed higher adsorption capability than XG, however, the grade with maximum grafting produced the highest efficiency (68.03%). Manipulation produced further improvement in efficiency to 72.17% with the same copolymer after 75 min at a pH of 5.0. The allowable biosorbent dose, however, was 1000 ppm as determined from the experimental evidences.
