Novel Poly(N-(1-cyclohexylethyl)Acrylamide-co-Styrene-co-Ethyleneglycol Dimethacrylate) Synthesis for Efficient Methylene Blue Adsorption from Aqueous Solutions Synthesis

Synthesis and evaluation of a new polymeric adsorbent for adsorbing methylene blue (MB) from these economical aqueous solutions were investigated. In the first step of the study, N-(1-cyclohexylethyl)acrylamide (CEA) monomer was synthesized using S-(+)-1-cyclohexylethylamine and acryloyl and the obtained CEA was analyzed by FTIR, ¹H-NMR, and ¹³C-NMR. Then, a poly(CEA-co-Styrene-co-EGDMA) copolymer was obtained by cross-linking CEA monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and styrene monomers by subsequent radical polymerization episodes. FTIR, solid-NMR, and elemental analysis methods were used for the characterization of this copolymer. In the last step of the study, the obtained poly(CEA-co-Styrene-co-EGDMA) copolymer was used as an adsorbent to adsorb MB from aqueous solutions. In the study, various factors such as adsorption properties, adsorbent dose, contact time, initial concentration, and solution pH were investigated. In the study, the most suitable adsorbent dose was determined as 0.1 g, initial solution concentration as 500 mg/L, contact time as 70 min, and pH as 7. Adsorption capacity was determined as 256.4 mg/g at 25 °C. As a result of the analysis of kinetic data, it was found that the model with the highest regression coefficient and the best fit with the experimental data was the pseudo-second-order kinetic model.