Selective removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions including Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) ions by 4-vinyl pyridine/2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate monomer mixture grafted poly(ethylene terephthalate) fiber

In this study, a new reactively fibrous adsorbent was prepared by grafting 4-vinyl pyridine (4-VP) and 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) monomer mixture onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers for removal of Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) metal ions from aqueous solution by using batch adsorption method. The influence of various parameters such as graft yield (GY), pH, adsorption time, initial ion concentration and adsorption temperature was investigated. The selectivity of the reactive fiber was also examined. The results show that the adsorbed amount of metal ions followed as given in the order Cr(VI)>Cd(II)>Cu(II). At pH 3, Cr(VI) was removed by 99% while the initial concentration of ions was at 5 mg L(-1) and by 94% at 400 mg L(-1). It was found that the grafted fiber is more selective for Cr(VI) ions in the mixed solution of Cr(VI)-Cu(II), Cr(VI)-Cd(II) and Cr(VI)-Cu(II)-Cd(II) at pH 3 and it was observed that the grafted fibers are stable and regenerable by acid and base without losing their activity.

Multiple gamma radiation sterilization of polyester fibres

Gamma radiation with a dose of 2.5 Mrad has been found to be suitable to sterilize polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bulk materials intended for biomedical applications. The radiation stability of PET bulk materials and fibre may not however be taken as identical due to the changes in the polymer structure during the processing of bulk materials for fibre. The chemical changes occurring in PET fibres during single and multiple (prolonged) sterilization in air were investigated. It was found that single sterilization (2.5 Mrad) itself affected the PET yarn and fibre. This was exhibited by the increase of crystallinity from 30.5 to 37% in the case of yarn and from 40 to 44% in the case of fibre. The breaking load of the yarn also increased from 441 g to 451 g. These changes were attributed to the degradation of PET in the amorphous region and the recombination of degraded aliphatic segments. Sterilization at higher doses affected the crystalline region which decreased the crystallinity, breaking load and molecular weight. For samples irradiated at 2.5 Mrad, the breaking load increased, though the dispersity increased. This was attributed to cross-linking by recombination. The increase in crystallinity also enhanced the breaking load of the samples. Higher doses of sterilization led to drastic microstructural and macrostructural changes as seen from the molecular weight. It was inferred that the changes in crystallinity and microstructure that occurred during multiple sterilization might affect the biocompatibility of the material.