Herein, a simple
eco-friendly route was adopted to synthesize three-dimensional
(3D) rice straw-structured poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/ chitosan (Cs)/agar–agar
(Agr), tripolymer-based magnetic nanohydrogels with incorporations
of Cloisite30B and magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles
via sulfate-induced quick gelation approach. The 3D rice straw structures
of nanohydrogels were evolved due to the rolling of exfoliated clay
platelets during transformation of PVA/Cs/Agr hydrogel network, whereas
the situation of exfoliation was achieved because of long time ultrasonication
and strong repulsive interactions between positively charged tripolymeric
chain and interstitial quaternary ammonium ions of nanoclays. Synthesized
nanohydrogels were characterized with Fourier transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron
microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron
spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis/differential
thermogravimetry along with their rheological measurements to interpret
the viscoelastic behaviors. The suitability of these nanohydrogels
was investigated in detail for removal of rhodamine B (RhB) and methylene
blue (MB) dyes from aqueous solution with variation of contact time,
initial dye concentration, adsorbent dosage, temperature, and pH,
which were observed to be fitted well with pseudo-second-order kinetic
and Langmuir isotherm models with revealing endothermic physisorption
nature of adsorption. The low-cost, large-scale production, high adsorption
capacities (q
max@RhB: 780 mg·g–1; q
max@MB: 800 mg·g–1), easiness of regeneration, biocompatibility, and
high magnetization value (38.16 emu·g–1) may
explore the synthesized PVA/Cs/Agr@Clay/Fe3O4 nanohydrogels as potential scavenger of organic dyes.
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