Ion-imprinted nanofibers of PVDF/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate for dynamic recovery of europium (III) ions from mimicked effluent

• Published in: Journal of environmental chemical engineering 2019-06, Vol.7 (3), p.103068, Article 103068
• Main Authors: Rajhans, Aditya, Gore, Prakash M., Siddique, Suhail K., Kandasubramanian, Balasubramanian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Effluents; Europium (III); Ionic liquid (RTIL); Nanofibers; Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
• ISSN: 2213-3437; 2213-3437
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jece.2019.103068

Ion-imprinted electrospun PVDF nanofibers functionalized with ionic liquid, i.e. RTIL, for effective removal of europium (III) ions. [Display omitted] Discharge of liquid effluents from industries in an open environment causes severe pollution to natural water sources and carcinogenicity to aquatic animals. Present study reports the utilization of ion-imprinted polyvinylidene/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (PVDF/RTIL) nanofibers fabricated via facile electrospinning technique, for effective recovery of europium III [Eu3+] ions for supplementing its supply for technological applications. RTIL used in this study provided active sites for recovery of Eu3+ ions through its functional groups. Maximum recovery of Eu3+ ions on PVDF/RTIL nanofibers was found to be 22.37 mg/g, with 90% of recovery achieved within 3 h (at pH ∼ 7.0, and T = 298 K). FE-SEM, FTIR and BET characterizations confirmed the recovery of Eu3+ ions on PVDF/RTIL nanofibers. Experimental parameters like adsorption isotherm, influence of pH of solution, and initial metal ion concentration were also investigated. Results demonstrated that recovery of Eu3+ ions onto ion-imprinted PVDF/RTIL nanofibers corresponds to Freundlich isotherm model (R2 = 0.98297). For investigation of economic viability sequential adsorption–desorption experiments were carried out which confirmed that PVDF/RTIL nanofibers can be readily regenerated and reused for five successive cycles without significant drop in effectiveness. Results demonstrate that PVDF/RTIL nanofibers can be effectively used for recovery of Eu3+ ions from mimicked liquid effluents.