Design of a Zwitter-Ionic Nanocomposite for Dyestuff Removal

Today, with the increasing awareness of environmental conservation, many scientists are directing their work on environmental improvements. In the textile industry, dyestuff load of wastewater increases, and improvements are made to reduce this load. As a contribution to these improvements, a nanocomposite is designed with clay, chitosan and its modifications, which are totally natural. As a preliminary study, the clay was modified and treated with dyestuff solutions to investigate the absorption properties of Methylene Blue with various clay types. According to the results obtained by UV visible spectrophotometer, Cloisite 30B, which is the clay with the best absorption property, has been determined as the reference material. With the lights of preliminary study, a nanocomposite was designed to adsorb dyestuffs from textile waste waters using modified clay and modified chitosan. With the anionic modification of chitosan, it can be converted into carboxymethylchitosan (CMCTS) and it can also have affinity to cationic structures. With this structure, colored composites are obtained while contributing to recycling and environment by providing adsorption of dyestuff. According to UV-vis and FT-IR results, CMCTS that is modified with Butanetetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) has better adsorption from textile wastewaters.