DEVELOPMENT OF POLYETHYLENE/POLYPROPYLENE FIBROUS RADIATION GRAFTED ADSORBENT CONTAINING GLYCIDOL LIGANDS FOR BORON REMOVAL

Boron compounds are widely utilized for various industrial processes which are anthropogenic sources of boron in the natural environment, this poses health concerns to humans and animals health when released to water bodies. Hydroxyl-enhanced materials are promising for boron removal due to their higher chelation properties resulting to esters formation. The objective of this study is to develop a new fibrous boron chelating adsorbent prepared by radiation induced grafting copolymerization (RIGC) of N-vinylformamide (NVF) onto polyethylene/polypropylene (PE/PP) non-woven sheet followed by hydrolysis and functionalization with glycidol moiety. The best RIGC reaction parameters for achieving high degree of grafting (DG) was determined. The degree of hydrolysis and glycidol density loaded in the adsorbent was optimized via response surface methodology (RSM). The properties of the prepared adsorbent were evaluated using various characterization techniques.