(199a) Poly-Pyrrole Loaded Fibers as New Adsorbent Materials

Poly-Pyrrole coated silica granules form effective filtration material for separating humic acids from water. Besides being a conductive polymer, poly-pyrrole can adsorb various anionic species from aqueous solutions because of its cationicity. One limitation in the application of granular beds for filtration is the relatively high pressure drop per unit surface area available in the beds. Fibrous media provide an attractive option to operate at lower pressure drops and therefore achieve higher flow rates through the filters. This investigation was thus targeted at developing a new adsorbent material: recycled pulp fibers coated with poly-pyrrole which could be used as adsorbents for various materials from both aqueous and gas phases. We prepared poly-pyrrole laden pulp fibers by the in-situ polymerization of pyrrole under controlled acid conditions with FeCl3 as catalyst. Bleached and unbleached hardwood kraft pulps were treated with different amounts of poly-pyrrole. We found that the loading of poly-pyrrole was significantly larger on the unbleached pulps as compared to the bleached pulps. Measurements of the zeta potential of the pulps showed that they were cationic primarily due to the presence of the polypyrrole. Significant adsorption of ammonia was observed on the poly-pyrrole loaded pulps and particular effectiveness in controlling microbial activity was found with unbleached pulps with poly-pyrrole. These results indicate the effectiveness of poly-pyrrole loaded pulps as possible antimicrobial or antitoxic agents and in purification of water from different metal ions including arsenic, chromium and molybdenum.