Presenter(s)

    Moses Ayitey-Adjin

    Comments

    3:00-4:15, Kennedy Union Ballroom

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    Description

    With the increasing number of contaminants found in wastewater, there has been a need to develop sustainable materials that will help address this issue. This work investigates the use of eco-friendly materials such as lignin, chitosan and vanillin in the formation of a hydrogel composite to help remove these pollutants from wastewater. Lignin a byproduct of the paper industry serves as an abundant and a source of a sustainable polymer, chitosan a biopolymer found in the exoskeleton of crustaceans is noted for its adsorption capacity. Vanillin, a natural crosslinker was also incorporated in the hydrogel matrix to improve the gel’s mechanical strength. Different hydrogel composites were synthesized in this work using lignin, chitosan and by varying the weight percent of the crosslinker vanillin. The various hydrogel composites were characterized using SEM, FTIR and a rheometer. The adsorption capacity of the hydrogels was also evaluated against water contaminants such as methylene blue. Preliminary results revealed that these hydrogel composite had high adsorption capacity and are able to remove contaminants such as methylene blue from wastewater hence a potential adsorbent for waste water treatment.

    Publication Date

    4-23-2025

    Project Designation

    Graduate Research

    Primary Advisor

    Erick Vasquez

    Primary Advisor's Department

    Chemical and Materials Engineering

    Keywords

    Stander Symposium, School of Engineering

    Institutional Learning Goals

    Community

    Sustainable Biopolymers for Water and Wastewater Treatment

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