Amidoxime modified polymers of intrinsic microporosity/alginate composite hydrogel beads for efficient adsorption of cationic dyes from aqueous solution.

Polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM-1) has demonstrated great potential in adsorption and separation fields. In this study, PIM-1 was structured into an applicable and efficient adsorbent using a facile way. PIM-1 was first modified by amidoxime, and then the amidoxime modified PIM-1 (AOPIM-1) was mingled into alginate (Alg) hydrogel to obtain composite hydrogel beads. The AOPIM-1/Alg composite beads were further employed for removal of malachite green (MG) from aqueous solution and the effects of doped ratio, adsorbent dosage, contact time, and initial dye concentration on the MG adsorption performance were systematically investigated. The MG adsorption capacity of pure Alg beads was substantially enhanced after incorporating AOPIM-1. Furthermore, isothermal, kinetic and thermodynamic studies were performed to explore the fundamental adsorption behavior. Both Freundlich isotherm and Langmuir isotherm models can fit the adsorption isotherm data well, and the adsorption kinetics is well described by Pseudo-second-order. The adsorption process is feasible, spontaneous and endothermic. In addition, mixed dyes adsorption measurements indicate that AOPIM-1/Alg beads are highly selective to adsorb cationic dyes from anionic/cationic mixed dyes solution. The regeneration test shows that above 90% of the adsorption capacity of the composite beads can be maintained after 10 cycles of MG adsorption/desorption. These findings point that AOPIM-1/Alg composite hydrogel beads are an efficient, up-and-coming and recyclable adsorbent for cationic dyes adsorption from aqueous solution.