Abstract: The polydopamine/chitosan aerogel material was prepared by solution blending and freezedrying techniques, using biopolymer chitosan as raw material, dopamine as bio-adhesive agent, chitin whisker as coupling agent. The morphological characterization, thermal stability and swelling performance of the prepared aerogel were researched, and its adsorption performance of reactive dyes was discussed. The results showed that the porous network structure was formed in the gel, but its thermal stability decreased, and the swelling rate increased with time; when the temperature is 50 ℃ and the pH is neutral, the aerogel on reactive red X-3B and reactive yellow M-3RE had the better adsorption effect, and the adsorption behavior under this condition fit the quasi-second-order kinetic model.

Key words: chitosan; dopamine; aerogel; adsorption; reactive dyes