Nanocomposite fiber analysis and their interactions with salts in aqueous solution

Abstract

The high concentration of nitrates in aquifers, rivers and open waters mainly due to the industrial use of fertilizers is one of the main ecological problems facing society today. In this work, nanocomposite fibers doped with modified sepiolite have been developed for nitrate adsorption. Their adsorption capacity (q) has been tested, reaching the value of q ∼ 20 mg/g in an exposure time of 1 minute. This is an improvement on materials dedicated to water decontamination in this field, which reach similar capacities but in contact times between 24 and 72 hours. The nanocomposite fibers produced were foamed by gas dissolution and a characterization work has been carried out on both solid and foamed fibers by electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Furthermore, mechanical properties of the fibers in the AM-AFM mode have been tested.