Phosphate removal from aqueous solutions using (vinylbenzyl)trimethylammonium chloride grafted onto polyester fibers.

In this study, we investigated the removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions using (vinylbenzyl)-trimethylammonium chloride (VBTAC) grafted onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers (PET-g-VBTAC). Batch-mode experiments were conducted using various contact times, initial phosphate concentrations, temperatures, pH values, and competing anions, to understand phosphate sorption onto PET-g-VBTAC. The phosphate sorption capacity of PET-g-VBTAC increased with increasing solution pH and was highest near pH 7.