Preparation of PVA/tetra-ZnO composite with framework-supported pore-channel structure and the removal research of lead ions

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) filled with different kinds of ZnO whisker was prepared by chemical cross-linking reaction. It was found that the ZnO whiskers dispersed uniformly after being modified by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). The PVA/tetrapod-shaped ZnO (PVA/tetra-ZnO) composites showed better adsorption performance than other kinds of PVA/ZnO composites. The framework-supported pore-channel structure was beneficial for the transmission and adsorption of heavy metal ions, and the formation of “brush” pore-channel of PVA/tetra-ZnO composites can effectively retain and capture the heavy metal ions. The PVA/tetra-ZnO composites presented well adsorption on Pb(II), Cd(II), and Cr(III) ions than Ni(II) and showed relatively selective removal on Pb(II) and Cr(III) ions. The adsorbed heavy metal ions presented gradient distribution with high content in the out layer and low content in the inner layer. Pb(II) adsorption capacity qe increased gradually with the increase of initial solution concentration and contact time which tended to be stable at 400 mg/L and 800 min. The maximal adsorption capacity qm obtained by nonlinear fitting reached to about 116 mg/g which was very close to the experiment data. Adsorption isotherm results indicated the monolayer adsorption process of the Langmuir model and the adsorption kinetics data fitted well to the pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption process was spontaneous and the high temperature was in favor of adsorption. The adsorption mechanism was explored as the combination of coordination and ion exchange. Besides, the PVA/tetra-ZnO composites exhibited better stress stability, thermo stability, and favorable regeneration than neat PVA.