Self-assembled bacterial cellulose imprinted aerogel for efficient and selective adsorption of erbium from tailings wastewater

Abstract

Selective recovery of high value rare earth elements from tailings wastewater is an economical and environmental measure. In this study, we constructed highly elastic embossed bacterial cellulose aerogel (BCP-I) for highly selective adsorption of erbium ions using bio-based material (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy-mediated bacterial cellulose) as a substrate material in concert with chitosan (CS) and polyethyleneimine (PEI). CS and PEI contain abundant functional monomers, which can cooperate with bacterial cellulose and Er(III) to construct more imprinting sites, which not only improves adsorption performance of BCP-I, but also makes aerogel more stable. In order to analyze physical and chemical properties of aerogels, it was characterized by scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and thermogravimetric analysis. Adsorption experiments showed that BCP-I had a good adsorption effect on Er(III), and the maximum adsorption capacity could reach 95.99 mg g−1. After five adsorption cycles, cycling experiments showed that adsorption performance of BCP-I was still in good condition. In conclusion, BCP-I is a good choice for the recovery of Er(III) because of its environmental friendliness, high selectivity and good reproducibility.