Title
Structural morphological and thermal analysis of some alginate/starch/Dellite HPS composites for aqueous Cu(II) removal
Authors
MARIA RAPA ECATERINA MATEI ANDREEA TURCANU ANDRA MIHAELA PREDESCU MIRCEA CRISTIAN PANTILIMON and CRISTIAN PREDESCU

Received January 5, 2019
Published Volume 53 Issue 5-6 May-June
Keywords alginate, starch, n-clay, Cu(II) removal, swelling, point of zero charge, regeneration

Abstract
The aim of the present paper is to investigate the properties of three binary systems based on 2% w/v sodium alginate (AlgNa) and 3% w/v starch, prepared by means of a magnetic stirrer. 3% w/v n-clay was added over the binary mixtures, while the amount of n-clay to all mixtures was 1.5% and 3%, respectively. Microspheres were obtained by crosslinking the prepared mixtures with 1.5 M CaCl2·2 H2O. The resulted composites were evaluated in terms of surface morphology (scanning electron microscopy – SEM), elemental composition (energy dispersive X-ray – EDX), swelling, thermal analysis (differential scanning calorimetry – DSC), electrochemical surface properties (zeta potential) and batch adsorption-desorption. The obtained results evidenced that the tested alginate/starch/n-clay 1/2/3 composite has the most promising properties for a biomaterial with potential applications in recovery of Cu(II) from polluted water.