HEAVY METAL REMOVAL BY CELLULOSE-BASED TEXTILE WASTE PRODUCT

Abstract

The textile industry is a source of significant amounts of cellulosic waste that can be processed into promising sorbents. The aim of study was understanding the adsorption behavior of metal ions on cellulose surfaces obtained from cellulose textile waste of light industry. Previous studies have shown that unmodified cellulose-based ion exchange resins obtained at different pH values were able to remove metal ions from aqueous solution. In present work the cellulose-based ion exchange resins were prepared by H2SO4 hydrolysis of initial waste product with following neutralization up to different pH and drying at 80 °C. Based on the fractional composition of powdered sorbents, the weighted average particle size of the sorbents used is determined: sorbents with pH = 1.5 - 3 ≈ 0.57 mm; sorbents with pH = 5 - 7 ≈ 0.14 mm. The IR analysis of the elemental composition of the particles showed the presence of bound sulfate groups in the powder sorbent with pH = 1.5-3. The results of experiments showed that the modification of the surface of the cellulose waste with sulfuric acid increased the effect of adsorption of Ni, Fe and Pb ions from an aqueous solution. It has been established that the electrostatic interaction between surface functional groups plays a significant role in the adsorption properties of the sorbents obtained. The affinity of sulphonic acid resins for cations generally varies with the ionic size and charge of the cation. This study showed that adsorption capacities of studied metals were in the order of Fe3+<Pb2+<Ni2+. Resulting cellulose particles have sulfate groups on their surface, which have wide range of applications for the removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater.