Fashionable epoxy/clay nanocomposites using modified clay-loaded methyl blue dye

Abstract

In this work, the elimination of methyl blue (MB) acidic dye from an aqueous solution was investigated using two types of modified montmorillonite. One was modified with dimethyl benzyl hydrogenated tallow ammonium chloride which was named claytone (APA). The other montmorillonite is modified with poly oxy propylene diamine (Jeffamine D-2000) and was referred to as clayD2000. The adsorption efficiency of claytone and clay D2000 was 1.4 mg/g at pH 2 and 1.4 mg/g at pH 6, respectively, after 60 min. Pseudo-second-order was the best model to explain the adsorption process for both surfaces. The maximum adsorption capacity, qmax according to Langmuir isotherm was 2.75 mg/g and 2.56 mg/g for claytone and clayD2000, respectively. The adsorption of MB on claytone was endothermic and exothermic for the adsorption on clayD2000. Additionally, the adsorption of MB on claytone was a favorable process and the uptake of MB on clayD2000 was favorable only at lower temperatures. A new approach was applied to valorize the colored loaded clays with MB dyes through the incorporation of the two products (MB/claytone and MB/clayD2000) into epoxy resin to fabricate colored epoxy nanocomposites that are stylish. The obtained nanocomposites were characterized using several techniques. The results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the clay-loaded MB dye nanosheets were well distributed in the epoxy matrix. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) exhibited that the epoxy/MB/clay nanocomposites were thermally stable compared with that of bare epoxy resin. The Vickers hardness test indicates that the hardness of the epoxy/MB/clay nanocomposites was significantly improved despite the addition of a minor amount of modified clay-loaded MB dye in comparison with unmodified epoxy resin. Moreover, the antimicrobial activity of the obtained nanocomposites has been tested against several types of bacteria and yeast. This study reveals the ability to use the solid wastes which are resulted from wastewater treatment for enhancing the properties of the epoxy polymer to suit various industrial requirements.