Quaternized triethanolamine-sebacoyl moieties in highly branched polymer architecture as a host for the entrapment of acid dyes in aqueous solutions

This paper reports the synthesis of a hyperbranched polymer by a cost-effective one-step copolymerization of A3 and B2 monomers, namely, triethanolamine and sebacoyl chloride, respectively, followed by methylation of tertiary amine groups. The structure of the hyperbranched polymer QTEAS as an efficient material for the removal of acid dyes was demonstrated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), cross polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) 13C NMR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (DRX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The removal of indigo carmine (IC) and Evans blue (EB) was expected to be driven by the electrostatic attraction between positively charged quaternary ammonium groups within the hyperbranched polymer and the negatively charged dyes. The removal process was found to be closely connected to the total number of sulfonate groups on the surface of the dyes. Nonetheless, the ionic strength does not affect the dyes' removal efficiency by the hyperbranched polymer. The sorption capacities at saturation of the monolayer qmax were determined to be 213.22 mg g−1 and 214.13 mg g−1, for IC and EB, respectively, thus showing the greater affinity of QTEAS sorbent for both dyes. Despite its extended molecular structure, EB is removed with the same effectiveness as IC. Finally, the great efficiency of the highly branched polymer for dye removal from colored wastewater was clearly demonstrated