LAUSR

Abstract Flocculant based on natural polymer has attracted more attention duo to its rich source, low cost and eco-friendliness. In this paper, we adopted a synthetic monomer of acrylamide to graft chitosan and lignin together by microwave assisted method. Flocculation studies showed that chitosan-acrylamide-lignin (CAML, 2 g:2 g:2 g) terpolymer exhibited maximum percentage removal of 99.3% and 67.0% for reactive orange C-3R and methyl orange, respectively. The soluble CAML flocculant had a wide flocculation window and pH effective range, although the flocculation efficiencies were enhanced slightly under acid condition. The flocculation mechanism was combined charge neutralization and bridging effects. The cost-effective, eco-friendly and high efficient terpolymer has great potential to serve as an excellent flocculant for dye removal.