Flocculation activity of novel ferric chloride-polyacrylamide (FeCl3-PAM) hybrid polymer

A ferric chloride-polyacrylamide inorganic-organic hybrid polymer has been synthesized using a ferric chloride/polyacrylamide ratio of 1:1 via free radical solution polymerization. A redox initiation system - (NH4)2S2O8 and NaHSO3 was used to initiate the polymerization at 50 °C in aqueous medium. The ferric chloride-polyacrylamide hybrid polymer was characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer to determine their functional groups in the hybrid polymer chain. The FeCl3-PAM hybrid polymer was tested for flocculating activities on kaolin suspension and Terasil Red R dye wastewater. Parameters such as solution pH and FeCl3-PAM hybrid polymer dosage have been studied. One-way ANOVA shows that pH has a significant impact (p < 0.05) in flocculating both kaolin suspension and Terasil Red R wastewater. The results show a minimum dosage of 2 mg/L is able to remove more than 99% of turbidity in kaolin suspension at pH 2. FeCl3-PAM hybrid polymer also shows its capability in flocculating Terasil Red R dye wastewater. It is able to reduce 89% of COD and 99% of colour at pH 5 using 500 mg/L of dosage.