Kinetics and Recyclability of Polymer-Modified Beads for Removal of Organics from Contaminated Water

Dyestuffs are pervasive pollutants, especially in areas where leather and textile industries are in operation. There is a need to develop effective and efficient strategies for the removal of these pollutants from drinking water and the environment. Solid supports have been exploited extensively as convenient supports for molecular functional groups capable of selective absorption/reaction with solution-phase species followed by facile removal of the solid-supported material from the solution. This Creative Inquiry project involves modification of magnetic silica-coated magnetic microspheres and commercial resins with a variety of phosphonium species with the aim of using these materials for adsorption of anionic dyes from aqueous solutions. These particular solids were selected because they are easily removed from a fluid such as drinking water that has been purified by the modified particles. The kinetics, adsorption isotherms and recyclability of dye uptake will be discussed