Preparation, characterization of chitosan/bamboo charcoal/poly(methacrylate) composite beads

Abstract

Preparation and characterization of a low-cost, novel steam-activated bamboo charcoal (BC) and poly(methacrylate) (PMAA) bound with chitosan (CTS) to form chitosan/bamboo charcoal/poly(methacrylate) (CTS/BC/PMAA) composite beads is reported for the first time in this paper. The characteristics are revealed by techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET), solution pH and pH at point of zero charge (pHpzc). The composite beads possessed a dominant acidic surface group of 0.663 mmol g-1, as revealed by Boehm titration method. This acidity was confirmed by its solution pH of 6.46; pHpzc of 6.70 and increase in oxygen surface via XPS analysis. N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms at 77 K of the beads revealed high BET surface area (SA) of 681.15 m2g-1. Langmuir model affords a SA of 773.34 m2g-1. SEM showed the microporous nature of the composite beads. The properties of CTS/BC/PMAA composite beads were compared to CTS/BC and neat BC. Thermal stability and successful coating of 5.1 wt% of PMAA and 6.8 wt% of CTS to CTS/BC/PMAA beads were shown by DSC and TGA analyses. The composite beads showed low carbon particle released at pH 7.4 and 6.8. Furthermore, dynamic adsorption revealed that CTS/BC/PMAA composite beads can be used to capture a polar substance, such as creatinine.