Microwave induced graft copolymerization of binary monomers onto luffa cylindrica fiber: removal of congo red

In this work, graft copolymerization of delignified Luffa cylindrica fiber with methyl acrylate (MA) and acrylic acid has been attempted in presence of microwave radiation. Different reaction conditions affecting the grafting percentage (Pg) were optimized to get the maximum graft yield. The grafted fibres were subsequently subjected for the evaluation of physico-chemical properties such as swelling behaviour, moisture absorbance and chemical resistance. Further, morphological and structural analysis of raw and delignified Luffa cylindrica-g-poly(MA/AA) were studied using Fourier transform infra red (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).The tensile properties of grafted and ungrafted fibre samples were also reported. The adsorption potential of modified fiber was investigated using adsorption isotherms for hazardous congo red dye removal from aqueous system. The maximum adsorption capacity of dye onto grafted Luffa cylindrica fiber was found to be 19.24 mg/g with best fit for Langmuir isotherm.