Construction of a novel hydrogel composite with polylactic acid nonwoven fibers: rapid and effective removal of Pb(II) and Ni(II)

In this study, a hydrogel composite adsorbent structure was reported and showed satisfactory adsorption performance. The study uses polylactic acid melt-blown nonwoven fabric to optimize and improve the adsorption performance of the hydrogel. The results show that the nonwoven fabric structure enables the composite material to reach the swelling equilibrium faster than the hydrogel. The adsorption-isotherm model found that the adsorption capacity of composite materials Pb(II) and Ni(II) reached 416.07 and 243.10 mg/g, respectively, and still had high removal efficiency at low pH. The composite material has low cost and can be reused, which solves the problems of difficulty in recovery of the hydrogel adsorbent, low strength, and easy damage, and promotes the industrialization of the hydrogel as an adsorbent.