Radiation‐initiated chitosan‐based double network hydrogel: Synthesis, characterization, and adsorption of methylene blue

Abstract A novel chitosan (CTS)‐based double network Poly(2‐acrylaMido‐2‐Methyl‐1‐propanesulfonic acid)/Polyacrylamide/CTS hydrogel was synthesized by irradiation initiated. Laponite RD (RD) was used as both dopant and the cross‐linking agent. Then the fabricated hydrogel was applied as an efficient adsorbent to remove the methylene blue (MB) in an aqueous solution. This hydrogel has both high strength and good adsorption properties for MB. The results from Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method confirmed that the hydrogel has a large specific surface area (96 m 2 /g) and developed pore structure, which is available for the contact between the adsorbent and dye molecules. In the adsorption process, the RD provides plenty of negative charges as adsorption sites for MB molecules. The influence of pH, temperature, and adsorbent dose on the adsorption performance was investigated in detail. The experimental data fit well with the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm. Besides, the mechanical strength of the hydrogel was also investigated in this work.