Influence of Lignin Concentration on Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers for Lead Removal

Abstract

Water contamination by heavy metals is one of the most serious environmental problems and harms human life. Numerous nanotechnologies have been utilized to overcome this problem so far. Herein, we introduce lignin/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite nanofibers prepared via electrospinning for the removal of lead from aqueous solution. The effects of blend ratios between lignin and PAN concentration (LP) were investigated. The performance of adsorption process depends on the following parameters including contact time of adsorbent and adsorbate (equilibrium times: after 16 h. for 10 mg/L of lead concentration), types of nanofibers (LP55 at 1 g/L), and the percentage of lead removal was 72.5 % within 24 hours by LP55 nanofibers. The highest correlation coefficients were performed for the pseudo-second order kinetic model both LP55 and PAN nanofibers. This study demonstrates that the potential of the biomass-derived material with nanotechnology for environmental remediation.