Abstract
A novel nanopolymeric composite powdered material was prepared by physical immobilization of the sol-gel prepared zirconia nanoparticles (ZrO(2)NPs) into poly (acrylonitrile- co-pyrrole) (poly (AN-co-py)) copolymer. The prepared copolymer composite was characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transfer infrared spectrophotometer (FT-IR). SEM images investigated its homogeneous spherical morphological structure with an average diameter of 60 nm. The potential of this nanopolymeric composite material to remove a basic dye (Basic Red 46) was evaluated in a batch process. The improvement in material dosage, solution pH, and temperature has positive impact on the dye decolonization process. The maximum dye decolonization was 87.7% that recorded using 0.5 g from the composite matrix within 150 min. The kinetic data analysis indicated that the dye adsorption is a second-order process. The results indicated that the prepared nanopolymeric composite could be an alternative for more costly adsorbents used for dye removal.