Iranian Journal of

Background and Objective: Nicotine as the most toxic alkaloid in tobacco is one of the compounds which causes human death over the past few decades. The purpose of this paper was to remove nicotine environmental pollution from aqueous solutions using halloysite-polythiophene nanocomposite. 

Materials and Methods: Halloysite-polythiophene nanocomposite was prepared using a homogeneous solution of HNT and FeCl₃ at 0-5°C by the ball milling technique. In this study, parameters such as pH, contact time and initial concentration of nicotine in laboratory scale were studied and the physical properties of the adsorbent were characterized via fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Then, the absorption results were described using Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms.

Results: The results showed that the pH, initial concentration of nicotine and contact time had a direct effect on the nicotine adsorption process. The adsorption of nicotine followed Langmuir isotherm (R² < 0/995). Moreover, the best adsorption result was achieved at pH=7, 50mg adsorbent, contact time of 90 min and 50mg/L of nicotine.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the Halloysite modification as a mineral composite with polythiophene and the synthesis of HNT@PTh nanocomposite can be used as an effective adsorbent to adsorb the nicotine.