An Optimized Covalent Immobilization of Glucamine on Electrospun Nanofibrous Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Sheets Grafted with Oxirane Groups for Higher Boron Adsorption

Nanofibrous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) sheets were produced by electrospinning and grafted with oxirane groups using radiation induced grafting of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) followed by treatment with N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMDG). The NMDG density in the nanofibers was tuned by optimization of the immobilisation reaction variables using response surface methodology (RSM). The various properties of NMDG-containing nanofibers were evaluated using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The NMDG-containing nanofibers were tested for boron selective removal from solutions. A maximum glucamine density yield of 2.2 mmol/g was obtained at 15 wt%, 87 oC, 64.7 min and 150 % for NMDG concentration, temperature, time and degree of grafting (DG), respectively. The applied procedure incorporating RSM was found to be highly effective in the optimization of covalently immobilised glucamine on the oxirane modified PVDF based-nanofibrous structure and in imparting an excellent combination of physico-chemical and boron retention properties. A complete boron removal was achieved in 100 mg/l boron solution adsorbent with a dosage of 0.6 g at pH 7 in 2 h time. This was accompanied by a promising reusability suitable for boron removal from solutions.