Removal of Methylene Blue by Dual Responsive Copolymeric Nanogels:Optimization by Response Surface Methodology

In this study novel surfactant free copolymeric nanogels (NGs) based on hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) and itaconic acid (IA) were prepared. The prepared pH/temperature responsive nanogels were used as a biocompatible adsorbent for methylen blue (MB) dye. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to modeling and optimization of the adsorption process. The effects of three variables including pH of the solution, dye concentration and contact time were investigated. Based on the ANOVA results, the predicted values were best fitted with the experimental data with R2 of 0.9861. Pareto analysis revealed that MB concentration was the most effective parameter. Maximum removal efficiency (99.9 %) was achieved at optimum parameters as a pH of 5.58, MB concentration of 130.57 mg/l and contact time of 5 min. Based on this study, the HPC-PIA NGs with high adsorption capacity of 761 mg/g can be a suitable adsorbent for removal of cationic dyes from textile colored wastewaters