Adsorption of Cu(II) form aqueous solution by electrospun PVP nanofiber modified with mercapto groups: Equilibrium studies

The Poly vinyl pyrrolidone/cerium oxide/ Pluronic123 nanofiber adsorbent modified with mercapto groups was synthesized by electrospinning. The prepared nanofibers were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Brunauer–Emmert–Teller (BET) and Brrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) analysis. The results showed that surface area, pore volume and average pore diameter of PVP/CeO2/TMPTMS /P123 nanofiber adsorbent were 163.60 m2/g, 0.303 cm3/g and 2.09 nm, respectively. The adsorption experiments were studied in a batch system. Three isotherm models, namely Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich were used for analysis of equilibrium data. The equilibrium data of Cu (II) ions was well described by the Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacities of PVP/CeO2/TMPTMS /P123 nanofiber adsorbent was found to be 263.4 mg/g for Cu(II) ions