A passionate Teacher and a dedicated Researcher with teaching experience in chemistry subjects and research expertise in various Water Treatment Technologies and Material Chemistry.
EDUCATION
M.Sc. Chemistry and Ph.D in Chemistry from The Gandhigram Rural Institute, Tamil Nadu, India
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Water Treatment Technologies; Polymers and their derivatives; Photocatalyst; Sensors
Adsorption of perchlorate from water using quaternary ammonium-functionalized chitosan beads Appunni Sowmya, Debanjani Das, Sivaraman Prabhakar, Marichamy Magesh Kumar, Kumaraguru Anbalagan, Mathur Rajesh Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy, 2020 Perchlorate, one of the persistent inorganic pollutants, was efficiently removed from water using quaternary ammonium‐functionalized cross‐linked chitosan beads (QACB). This synthesized bead was found to be efficient in terms of perchlorate removal capacity, 100% regeneration of used beads (using HCl or NaCl) and selectivity in the presence of coanions, namely, chloride, sulfate, carbonate, and nitrate. QACB removes perchlorate by exchange of chloride ions. QACB was able to remove >95% perchlorate from brackish water. Batch studies were carried out in order to optimize the condition for maximum perchlorate removal. The perchlorate removal capacity of QACB from 1,000 mg/L of aqueous solutions was 153.0 mg/g. The outcome of pH variation studies indicated that QACB is able to remove perchlorate in the pH ranges of 2–11. Equilibrium isotherm data of adsorption of perchlorate at temperature 303, 313, and 323 K were well fitted to the linear Freundlich, Langmuir, and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models. The adsorption kinetics data were best described by the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model. FTIR was used to confirm the interaction of perchlorate with QACB. A small‐scale column test was carried out to evaluate the capacity of QACB for removing perchlorate from brackish water.
Effective utilization of the functional groups in chitosan by loading Zn(II) for the removal of nitrate and phosphate Appunni Sowmya, Sankaran Meenakshi Desalination and Water Treatment, 2015 Chitosan beads cross-linked with glutaraldehyde were loaded with Zn(II) for the removal of nitrate and phosphate. The Zn(II) was bound by the free amino groups in the cross-linked chitosan beads. In order to utilise the hydroxyl groups on cross-linked chitosan, it was carboxylated with chloroacetic acid and then loaded with Zn(II). Both the sorbents viz. zinc-loaded cross-linked chitosan beads (ZnCB) and zinc-loaded carboxylated cross-linked chitosan beads (ZnCCB) were characterised by SEM, EDAX, X-ray diffraction and FT-IR. Adsorption studies were carried out in batch mode. The maximum adsorption capacity of ZnCB and ZnCCB for nitrate was 27.56 and 59.00 mg/g, respectively and for phosphate it was 31.45 and 67.50 mg/g, respectively. The suitability of the Freundlich, Langmuir and Dubinin–Radushkevich adsorption models to the adsorption equilibrium data was investigated. The equilibrium data obtained for nitrate and phosphate removal using ZnCCB were found to follow Freundlich adsorption isotherm....
