title: Atrazine adsorption removal with nylon6/polypyrrole core-shell nanofibers mat: possible mechanism and characteristics.
abstract: A functionalized nylon6/polypyrrole core-shell nanofibers mat (PA6/PPy NFM) was prepared via situ polymerization on nylon6 electrospun nanofibers mat (PA6 NFM) template and used as an adsorbent to remove atrazine from aqueous solutions. The core-shell structure of PA6/PPy NFM can be clearly proved under scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The effects of initial solution pH and ionic strength, as well as the comparison of the adsorption capacity of functionalized (PA6/PPy NFM) and non-functionalized (PA6 NFM) adsorbent, were examined to reveal the possible adsorption mechanism. The results indicated that π-π interaction and electrostatic interaction should play a key role in the adsorption process. The kinetics and thermodynamics studies also further elucidated the detailed adsorption characteristics of atrazine removal by PA6/PPy NFM. The adsorption of atrazine could be well described by the pseudo-second-order equation. The adsorption equilibrium data was well fitted with the Freundlich isotherm model with a maximum adsorption capacity value of 14.8 mg/g. In addition, the increase of adsorption rate caused by a temperature increase could be felicitously explained by the endothermic reaction. The desorption results showed that the adsorption capacity remained almost unchanged after six adsorption/desorption cycles. These results suggest that PA6/PPy NFM could be employed as an efficient adsorbent for removing atrazine from contaminated water sources.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University,87 Dingjiaqiao, Nanjing, 210009 China.
authors.forename: Bi-Yi
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University,87 Dingjiaqiao, Nanjing, 210009 China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University,87 Dingjiaqiao, Nanjing, 210009 China.
authors.forename: Fei-Fei
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University,87 Dingjiaqiao, Nanjing, 210009 China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Qing
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environmental Medicine Engineering, Ministry of Education, School of Public Health, Southeast University,87 Dingjiaqiao, Nanjing, 210009 China ; Suzhou Key Laboratory of Environment and Biosafety, Suzhou, 215123 China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: Adsorption characteristics; Adsorption mechanism; Atrazine; Nanofibers; Polypyrrole; Removal