Abstract
Antimicrobial zinc oxide (ZnO) nano-sized materials have been used as environmentally friendly nanocomposites for water treatment applications due to their superior properties. Their particle size growth in water is one of their limitations that affects their preparation as nano-sized ZnO in aqueous medium at room temperature. In the present work, poly(ionic liquid), PIL, based on quaternary ammonium salts of 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid homopolymer and its copolymer with N-vinyl pyrrolidone were used as capping agents to control the ZnO shapes and sizes. The surface charges, morphology, particle sizes and chemical structure of ZnO capped with PIL were studied as well as their antimicrobial activity. The prepared ZnO nanomaterial was used to prepare crosslinked 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid-co-acrylonitrile nanocomposites to apply as adsorbent for methylene blue dye from water as harmful organic pollutants. The ZnO composites achieved high adsorption removal rate for 3000 mg/L of MB from water during 20 min. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.