Novel chitosan/lignin hydrogel prepared by the Mannich reaction for Pb(II) and Cu(II) removal from aqueous solution

Xiuxian Zhao; Heng Zhao; Anna Mei; Lin Peng; Junhua Sun

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.138177

Novel chitosan/lignin hydrogel prepared by the Mannich reaction for Pb(II) and Cu(II) removal from aqueous solution

Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Nov 28:138177. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.138177. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiuxian Zhao¹, Heng Zhao², Anna Mei³, Lin Peng³, Junhua Sun⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, PR China; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Nanchang City for Green New Materials and Industrial Wastewater Treatment, School of Ecology and Environment, Yuzhang Normal University, Nanchang 330103, PR China.
³ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Institute of Materia Medica, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250117, PR China.
⁴ School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, PR China; School of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Institute of Materia Medica, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan 250117, PR China; School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, PR China. Electronic address: jhsun@sdfmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 39615725
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.138177

Abstract

Green and high-performance biomass-based adsorbents have a good application prospect for the removal of heavy metals. At present, the preparation of chitosan/lignin BIOMASS adsorbents mainly adopts dissolution-drying method, and the obtained adsorbents show relatively poor adsorption performance for heavy metals. To overcome this problem, a novel chitosan/lignin hydrogel (CSL) is prepared by a simple one-pot method through the Mannich reaction. Research findings show that the hydrogels present higher adsorption selectivity for Pb(II) and Cu(II) than other common heavy metals. Among them, the optimal hydrogel CSL1 shows unexpectedly ultrafast adsorption rate for Pb(II) and Cu(II) with equilibrium time of only 1 min and 2 min. Meanwhile, the maximum adsorption capacities of CSL1 for Pb(II) and Cu(II) are 139.86 and 98.71 mg·g^-1, respectively. Compared with the reported adsorption materials related to chitosan or lignin, the CSL1 has the advantages of simple preparation process, considerable adsorption capacity, and short adsorption equilibrium time. Moreover, the adsorption mechanism is investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the results prove that the adsorption mechanism is chemical complexation. This work not only contributes to the advancement of hydrogel-based adsorbents, but also holds significant industrial potential for addressing water pollution issues and promoting sustainable development.

Keywords: Adsorption; Chitosan; Heavy metals; Hydrogel; Lignin; Mannich reaction.