Ultrasound assisted synthesis of polyacrylic acid–nanoclay nanocomposite and its application in sonosorption studies of malachite green dye

Synthesis of nanoclay nanocomposite has been undertaken by using polyacryalic acid (PAA) in aqueous medium and ultrasound environment and its application in dye removal has been investigated. The synthesized product was characterized by using FTIR and XRD techniques. The sonosorption capacity of the product namely PAA–nanoclay composite was determined by choosing malachite green (MG) dye as a model pollutant. The effects of various parameters such as nanocomposite loading, pH, various process conditions etc. have been studied. On comparing the results obtained with that of nanoclay as an adsorbent, it was found for an initial concentration of 500 mg/l, the PAA–nanoclay nanocomposite exhibited higher percentage of pollutant removal (68%) and for nanoclay it was 54%. The adsorption data has been correlated using Langmuir and Freundlich models. The fit of the Freundlich isotherm model was found to be good in the entire range of concentration for the experimental sorption data obtained on the nanoclay nanocomposite. A plausible reaction mechanism for use of PAA–nanoclay nanocomposite as an adsorbent is also proposed.