Influence of Salt and Surfactant on Copper Removal by Xanthan Gum-g-Itaconic Acid/Bentonite Hydrogel Composite from Water Using Fractional Factorial Design

A novel xanthan gum-g-itaconic acid/bentonite (XG-g-PIA/BET) hydrogel composite was synthesized using free radical polymerization in the presence of ammonium persulfate as initiator and N,N’-methylenebis(acrylamide) as crosslinker. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectra of XG-g-PIA/BET composite before and after adsorption gave strong evidence of the successful adsorbance of copper ions with COOH groups. Influence of the presence of three typical salts (NaCl, CaCl₂, and FeCl₃) and three types of surfactants including anionic (Brij 35), cationic (N-Cetyl-N,N,N-trimethyl ammonium bromide), anionic (sodium dodecyl sulfate), and their two-term interactions on copper ions adsorption capacity were investigated using 32 experiments with fractional factorial experimental design. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the fitted model had a significant p value (<0.0001), and except FeCl₃, all other variables present in the aqueous solution increased the copper adsorption capacity. In addition, there was no significant two-term interaction between different variables.