REMOVAL OF INK DYE FROM WASTEWATER USING ADSORPTION BY NANOCELLULOSE BASED HYDROGELS

Adsorption's high efficiency, low operating cost, and versatility have made it a popular and successful approach for removing contaminants from wastewater. Various synthetic and natural adsorbents have been created for this purpose and used to remove a variety of contaminants, including printing inks. Growing environmental concerns have spurred interest in creating more environmentally friendly and biodegradable materials. Hydrogels are produced using a variety of recently developed or identified monomers and cross-links, as well as pre-made biocompatible polymers and cutting-edge synthesis techniques. Hydrogels can be made more intelligent by altering their morphology, crosslinking, chemical structure, or manufacturing methods. Hydrogels must be collected, regenerated, and reused in order to be deemed life cycle sustainable. This is an economic system in which natural ecological feedback or technological means transform waste into resources. In this work, dye adsorption experiments were carried out using wastewater from printing. Hydrogels based on nanocellulose were employed as adsorbents. Firstly, nanocellulose was produced. Nanocellulose was used to create hydrogels, while ZnCl2 was used as a cross-linker. The batch technique was used for the adsorption trials. ATR-FTIR, or attenuated total reflection/Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, was used to examine the chemical structures of the hydrogels. The different parameters were found, including pH, contact time, and removal quantity. Thus, with the aid of produced hydrogel, red coloured dye used commercially in flexography inks effectively cleansed the wastewater.