Effect of PH and Temperature in Removal of Nickel Using Polyaniline

Ponnusamy, Saarumathy (2021) Effect of PH and Temperature in Removal of Nickel Using Polyaniline. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

Nickel is one of the most dangerous heavy metal on the earth that may cause severe damage to humans and environment. In this research study, PAni nanocomposite was developed as adsorbent in order to remove Ni from wastewater from industry. PAni nanocomposite with different fillers such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) and helical multi-walled carbon nanotubes (h-MWNT) were synthesized by template-free method using hexanoic acid (HA) as dopant and ammonium persulfate (APS) as oxidizing agent. FTIR and UV-Vis spectra confirmed the chemical structure of PAni nanocomposites and ensured all the resulted PAni nanocomposites exist in conducting emeraldine salt state. Electrical conductivity was measured by resistivity meter by giving high conducting range of 0.1209 x 10-1 S cm-1 to 3.0032 x 10-1 S cm-1 for all PAni nanocomposites. TGA analysis proved that the addition of fillers eventually enhanced the thermal stability of all PAni nanocomposites. The optimum parameters from previous research was utilised in this research study in order to investigate the effect of pH and temperature toward Ni removal using PAni/HA/TiO2/h-MWNT. The highest removal efficiency can be achieved at alkaline condition but pH 10 was chosen due to safety margins to proceed with other factors. Ni removal of PAni nanocomposites achieved the highest efficiency of 70.97% at optimum parameters including pH 10, 0.1 g of absorbent, optimum temperature of 50 oC and contact time of 9 hours (Table 4.3). The mechanism between PAni/HA/TiO2/h-MWNT and Ni confirmed that nature of interaction was chemical interaction from certain literature review of other researchers.