The PP-g-Vim-CH3I adsorbent, which possesses antibacterial and ion-exchange functions, was synthesized by photoinduced grafting of 1-vinyl imidazole (Vim) onto polypropylene, non-woven fabric and subsequent quaternization using methyl iodide (CH3I). The adsorption properties of PP-g-Vim-CH3I for nitrate ion were studied in batch mode and fixed-bed columns. The adsorption equilibria of NO3-N on PP-g-Vim-CH3I were well described by the Langmuir isotherm model, and the adsorption energy was 9.03 kJ/mol, which indicates an ion-exchange process. Adsorption-kinetic data were fitted with a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The Bohart-Adams model was found to be suitable for simulating the breakthrough curves obtained from the fixed-bed columns. The fixed-bed sorption capacity of nitrate ion from the model was in the range 100.8 ~ 108.6 mg/g without the presence of competing anions but decreased to the range 55.7 ~ 96.2 mg/ g in groundwater due to adsorption competition with the coexisting anions, especially SO4 2− ion. The PP-g-Vim-CH3I adsorbent could be regenerated by washing with 1.0 N NaCl without serious lowering the adsorption capacity.

In recent years, the demand for advanced treatments in the water-treatment industry has increased, and physicochemicalseparation technologies have come into wide use. However, biofouling is a major problem for the separation processes in water and wastewater treatment. One anti-biofouling strategy is to construct antibacterial surfaces. In this work, polypropylene (PP) fiber was endowed with antibacterial/adsorption property by photoinduced graft polymerization of 1- vinyl imidazole (Vim) followed by quaternization with alkyl iodides. A concentration of Vim equal to 5 vol.% in 10-20 vol.% methanol, a photoirradiation time of 5 h and a reaction temperature of 80oC proved to be optimal for the grafting of Vim onto PP. The modified PP fibers were characterized by means of FT-IR, SEM, antibacterial and adsorption tests. We found that the quaternized PP-g-Vim fiber with methyl iodide exhibited high adsorption capacity for NO3-N and excellent antibacterial activities against both E. coli and S. aureus.