title: Cysteine-grafted nonwoven geotextile: a new and efficient material for heavy metals sorption--part A.
abstract: Cysteine is an interesting biomolecule in the heavy metals trapping field, thanks to its amino, thiol and carboxylic groups. This amino acid is indeed present in some natural chelating agents: glutathione, phytochelatins and metallothioneins. However, cysteine has never been used in remediation processes. When immobilized on a polypropylene nonwoven (PP) geotextile, an innovative and eco-friendly material is obtained, with potential use in drainage and filtration of wastewaters and sediments. PP was first functionalized with acrylic acid using a low pressure cold plasma process to bring reactive carboxylic functions onto the surface (PP-g-AA). Cysteine was then covalently grafted on this modified PP. The cysteine grafting on PP-g-AA was optimized using response surface methodology, which allowed concluding that the best conditions of immersion without heating consist in: a solution containing 0.229 mol/L of cysteine for 28 h. The materials were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy, InfraRed Spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy: evidence of covalent cysteine grafting was given. Preliminary sorption tests at 20 °C and pH = 4.5 with artificially polluted solutions give promising results for divalent heavy metal ions: 95 mg Cu (II) (CuSO4 solution), 104 mg Cu (II) and 135 mg Pb(II) (with NO3(-) counter-ion) per gram of PP are trapped.
authors.affiliation: Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET), Ingénierie des Systèmes Polymères (ISP), CNRS-UMR 8207, ENSCL, Université Lille Nord de France, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vandenbossche
authors.affiliation: Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET), Ingénierie des Systèmes Polymères (ISP), CNRS-UMR 8207, ENSCL, Université Lille Nord de France, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France. Electronic address: mathilde.casetta@univ-lille1.fr.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casetta
authors.affiliation: Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET), Ingénierie des Systèmes Polymères (ISP), CNRS-UMR 8207, ENSCL, Université Lille Nord de France, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jimenez
authors.affiliation: Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET), Ingénierie des Systèmes Polymères (ISP), CNRS-UMR 8207, ENSCL, Université Lille Nord de France, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France; Service Microsonde Electronique, ENSCL, Université Lille Nord de France, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellayer
authors.affiliation: Unité Matériaux et Transformations (UMET), Ingénierie des Systèmes Polymères (ISP), CNRS-UMR 8207, ENSCL, Université Lille Nord de France, 59652 Villeneuve d'Ascq Cedex, France.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Traisnel
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry*; D007854:Lead / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy; D011126:Polypropylenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D011126:Polypropylenes; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D007854:Lead; D003300:Copper; D003545:Cysteine
keywords: Cold plasma process; Cysteine; Heavy metals; Polypropylene nonwoven; Remediation