Adsorption and recovery of Cu (II) with polysulphone microcapsules containing chitosan gel

Abstract

Polysulphone (PSF) microcapsules (PSF-CTS) containing chitosan gel with higher mechanical stability and anti-biodegradability were prepared using a novel surface coating method. The thickness and microstructures of the polysulphone coating layer were analysed by SEM. The experiments to examine the mechanical improvement of the encapsulated gel beads were carried out. The adsorption for Cu²⁺ and regeneration properties of unencapsulated and encapsulated gel beads were also tested. The results showed that the mechanical strength of the encapsulated gel beads was significantly enhanced. However, this improvement led to a decrease of the adsorption kinetics due to the increase of the mass transfer resistance. The potentially available methods are suggested to reduce mass transport resistance through the PSF coating layer.

Keywords: :

• Chitosan
• gel beads
• polysulphone
• coating
• emulsion phase inversion
• adsorption