Glycidyltrimethylammonium Chloride Research Articles

Development and Characterization of Modified Gelatin-Based Cling Films with Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities and Their Application in the Preservation of Cherry Tomatoes.

The utilization of functional cling films presents a promising approach to alleviate post-harvest spoilage caused by microbial activity, oxidative metabolism, and moisture loss in agricultural products. To overcome the environmental problems of conventional packaging materials, in this study, we developed functional fruit and vegetable cling films based on glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride and rosemarinic acid cross-linked gelatin (RQ-GEL). The results indicate that the prepared RQ-GEL film possesses excellent UV light barrier properties and mechanical performance. RQ-GEL inhibited S. aureus and E. coli by 93.79% and 92.04%, respectively. DPPH and ABTS free radical scavenging activities were as high as 87.69% and 84.6%. In the cherry tomato preservation experiment, when compared to uncovered samples, the RQ-GEL group had a 29.77% reduction in weight loss and a significant 26.92% reduction in hardness. Meanwhile, the RQ-GEL group delays the decline of fruit total soluble solids and titratable acidity content, and prolongs the preservation period of cherry tomatoes. Hence, RQ-GEL cling film is poised to emerge as a promising packaging material for the post-harvest preservation of agricultural products.

Preparation and Characterization of Magnetic Material/Chitosan Composite Modified with Glycidyl-Trimethylammonium Chloride

Glycidyl-trimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) containing quaternary ammonium (QA) groups is commonly used as a base catalyst for any organic reaction. This research prepared a novel composite of GTMAC attached to chitosan-coated magnetic material (MM/Chi/GTMAC) using a precipitation method. The effect of chitosan and GTMAC contents on MM/chi/GTMAC properties was studied, where the chitosan content varied from 0, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, and 3.0 mol, and GTMAC varied from 0, 0.3, 0.8, 1.0, 1.5, and 3 mL with the constant mass of MM (0.4640 g). The physicochemical and morphological properties were characterized with FTIR, SEM-EDX, XRD, TGA, UV-vis, AAS, and zeta-sizer, and the magnetic strength was simply tested with an external magnet. The result showed that a mixture containing chitosan and GTMAC of 0.358 g and 1.5 mL was an optimum composition, in which MM/chi(0.5)/GTMAC(1.5) has high thermal stability, low chitosan and Fe solubility, and optimum content of QA (0.284 mol/g) without loss of magnetic strength. The higher the amount of chitosan, the lower the magnetic properties, and the higher the GTMAC did not increase the QA content. Therefore, the composite produced has the potential to be a novel heterogeneous base catalyst that is quickly recovered from any organic reaction media.

Quaternization of cassava starch and determination of antimicrobial activity against bacteria and coronavirus

This study describes the novel development of quaternized cassava starch (Q-CS) with antimicrobial and antiviral properties, particularly effective against the MHV-3 coronavirus. The preparation of Q-CS involved the reaction of cassava starch (CS) with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) in an alkaline solution. Q-CS physicochemical properties were determined by FTIR, NMR, elemental analysis, zeta potential, TGA, and moisture sorption. FTIR and NMR spectra confirmed the introduction of cationic groups in the CS structure. The elemental analysis revealed a degree of substitution (DS) of 0.552 of the cationic reagent on the hydroxyl groups of CS. Furthermore, Q-CS exhibited a positive zeta potential value (+28.6 ± 0.60 mV) attributed to the high positive charge density shown by the quaternary ammonium groups. Q-CS demonstrated lower thermal stability and higher moisture sorption compared to CS. The antimicrobial activity of Q-CS was confirmed against Escherichia coli (MIC = 0.156 mg mL−1) and Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 0.312 mg mL−1), along with a remarkable ability to inactivate 99% of MHV-3 coronavirus after only 1 min of direct contact. Additionally, Q-CS showed high cell viability (close to 100%) and minimal cytotoxicity effects, guaranteeing its safe use. Therefore, these findings indicate the potential use of Q-CS as a raw material for antiseptic biomaterials.

Synthesis of Raspberry-like Nanoparticles via Surface Grafting of Positively Charged Polyelectrolyte Brushes: Colloidal Stability and Surface Properties.

A method to synthesize stable, raspberry-like nanoparticles (NPs), using surface grafting of poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) brushes on a polystyrene (PS) core with varying grafting densities, is reported. A two-step functionalization reaction of PGMA epoxide groups comprising an amination step first using ethylene diamine and then followed by a quaternization using glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride generates permanently and positively charged polyelectrolyte brushes, which result in both steric and electrostatic stabilization. The dispersion stability of the brush-bearing NPs is dramatically improved compared to that of the pristine PS core in salt solutions at ambient (25 °C) and elevated temperatures (60 °C). Additionally, the grafted polyelectrolyte chains undergo a reversible swelling in the presence of different ionic strength (IS) salts, which modulate the surface properties, including roughness, stiffness, and adhesion. An atomic force microscope under both dry and wet conditions was used to image conformational changes of the polyelectrolyte chains during the swelling and deswelling transitions as well as to probe the nanomechanical properties by analyzing the corresponding force-sample separation curves. The quaternized polyelectrolyte brushes undergo a conformational transition from a collapsed state to a swelled state in the osmotic brush (OB) regime triggered by the osmotic gradient of mobile ions to the interior of the polymer chain. At IS ∼ 1 M, the brushes contract and the globules reform (salted brush state) as evidenced by an increase in the surface roughness and a reduction in the adhesion of the brushes. Beyond IS ∼ 1 M, quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring measurements show that salt uptake continues to take place predominantly on the exterior surface of the brush since salt adsorption is not accompanied by a size increase as measured by dynamic light scattering. The study adds new insights into our understanding of the behavior of NPs bearing salt-responsive polyelectrolyte brushes with adaptive swelling thresholds that can ultimately modulate surface properties.

Kinetic, Isothermal, and Thermodynamic Analyses of Adsorption of Humic Acid on Quaternized Porous Cellulose Beads

Porous cellulose beads were quaternized with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC), and the potential use of the quaternized cellulose beads as an adsorbent was explored for the removal of humic acid (HA) from aqueous media. The introduction of quaternary ammonium groups was verified by FT-IR and XPS analyses, and their content increased to 0.524 mmol/g-Qcell by increasing the GTMAC concentration. The adsorption capacity of the HA increased with decreasing initial pH value and/or increasing content of quaternary ammonium groups, and a maximum adsorption capacity of 575 mg/g-Qcell was obtained for the quaternized cellulose beads with a content of quaternary ammonium groups of 0.380 mmol/g-Qcell. The removal % value increased with increasing dose of quaternized cellulose beads, and HA was highly removed at higher quaternary ammonium groups. The kinetics of the HA adsorption in this study followed a pseudo-second-order equation, and the process exhibited a better fit to the Langmuir isotherm. In addition, the k2 value increased with increasing temperature. These results emphasize that HA adsorption is limited by chemical sorption or chemisorption. The quaternized cellulose beads were repetitively used for the adsorption of HA without appreciable loss in the adsorption capacity. The empirical, equilibrium, and kinetic aspects obtained in this study support that the quaternized cellulose beads can be applied to the removal of HA.

Sunflower-like missing-linker covalent organic framework for efficient extraction of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

As excellent crystalline materials, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are widely used in drug adsorption. In this work, a defective engineering strategy was proposed for designing and preparing the functionalized end-capping monomer and missing-linker COFs. The missing-linker COF 2,4,6-trihydroxybenzene-1,3,5-tricarbaldehyde compound with glycidyltrimethyl ammonium chloride modified benzene-1,4-diamine (TpPa-GTA) was synthesized through Schiff base reaction with wide pore size distribution for adsorption of four nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The adsorption process follows pseudo-second-order kinetics, and the four drugs reached adsorption equilibrium within 10 min. The sunflower-like structure helps to promote intraparticle diffusion during the adsorption process, thereby realizing the rapid adsorption of TpPa-GTA. The equilibrium isotherms fit well with both the Freundlich and Langmuir models, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 83.3-315 mg g-1 calculated from the Langmuir model. Based on the detection results of Zeta potential and XPS, the adsorption mechanism was inferred, and the rapid capture of NSAIDs in the wide pH range of 4.0 to 7.5 was realized under electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and π-π interaction. The detection of lake and river samples using the missing adapter TpPa-GTA has a recovery rate of 84.2-117%, which provides a new approach to the adsorption of pollutants with COFs.

Modification of chitosan-coated magnetic material with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride and its application as heterogeneous base catalyst for levulinic acid esterification

A magnetically separable solid Lewis base catalyst composed of natural magnetic material, chitosan, and glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride was developed. The catalyst is effective for esterification of levulinic acid to produce ethyl levulinate.

A novel scalable polycationic melamine sponge-based filtration matrix for continuous ultrafast adsorption of anionic pollutants

Effective capturing of anionic pollutants from wastewater under industrial operating conditions, which requires high processing flux and fast adsorption rate remains a challenge. Here, a commercially available melamine sponge (MS) with reticulated 3D macroporous structures was covalently modified with positively charged moieties using a single step functionalization under mild conditions. The developed novel polycationic melamine sponge (MS+) was formed by a nucleophilic addition reaction between glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GMTA) and MS, followed by a self-propagation of GMTA. The produced MS+ possessed strong electrostatic interactions with different anions such as Rose Bengal (RB) and phosphates (P) under a wide pH range (3–11). The MS+ exhibited promoted static adsorption efficiencies of 400 mg g−1 (P) and 600 mg g−1 (RB), within 5 min and 60 s, respectively. Furthermore, the MS+ showed high stability and recyclability for up to 15 cycles of uses, and the recycling process was environmentally friendly by using 1 M NaCl as a releasing solution. Benefiting from fast flow through the macroporous MS+ and highly positive charged skeleton, the MS+ was applied for rapid dynamic enrichment process of P from real manure wastewater with an enrichment factor of 4.4. Utilization of the MS+ as the substrate brings additional advantages such as low cost, availability, and flexibility to fit into existing filtration devices. The developed MS+ could be expanded for enrichments of other anionic species from various polluted water sources.

Construction of Janus structures on thin silk fabrics via misting for wet–thermal comfort and antimicrobial activity

Owing to their small fiber diameter (10–15 μm), silk fabrics are always thin (32–90 g m−2). Therefore, construction of the Janus surfaces of silk fabrics that possess excellent multifunctionality remains a formidable challenge. Herein, first, silk fabrics were grafted using glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride to form a superhydrophilic surface (G-side). Then, a unilateral hydrophobic surface (O-side) was readily fabricated by mist coating octadecyltrichlorosilane-functionalized SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) to produce hierarchical surface textures. To prevent NP penetration from the G-side to the O-side, a “fireproof isolation” method was employed. Consequently, Janus silk fabrics (JanSFs) bearing asymmetric wettability were prepared, and their wetting gradient could be conveniently regulated. With the mist time ranging from 4 to 7 min, the unidirectional transport index and efficiency of the unidirectional water transport increased and decreased by 13.2 and 10.4 times, respectively. Sweat could be effectively drained away from human skin to ensure that the skin was dry and comfortable. Compared with the surface temperature of the raw fabric, the raw fabric of JanSFs increased by 2.7 °C. Furthermore, the breathability of JanSF was negligibly affected, and the outer O-side of the JanSF showed substantial antibacterial activity. This study is important for designing JanSFs that exhibit unidirectional water transport.

Removal of heavy metal ions from acidic wastewater by constructing positively charged hollow fiber nanofiltration separating-layer based on Fe (III)/co deposition-quaternization

A surface positively charged nanofiltration (NF) membrane was successfully constructed to effectively remove heavy metal ions by co-deposition and quaternization strategy. The combination between Fe3+ and H2O2 accelerated the co-deposition of tannic acid (TA) and polyvinyl amine (PVAM) on the membrane surface. The mechanism by which metal ions accelerated co-deposition process to regulate membrane surface structure was elucidated. The convenient quaternary ammonium modification was carried out by reacting glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTMAC), which significantly increased the potential and density of the membrane surface. The membrane had a high retention rate for heavy metal ions (1000 ppm (mg· L−1), Cr3+ (94.6 %), Fe3+ (93.7 %), Cu2+ (92.1 %), Ni2+ (90.2 %)), while maintaining an excellent water permeance (27.8 L m−2 h−1 bar−1). The membrane also presented outstanding separation performance for rare earth metal ion. In particular, the retention rate for 500 ppm (mg·L−1) Ce3+ was 95.3 %. The relationship between membrane surface potential, pore size and rejection of heavy metal revealed the removal mechanism. Furthermore, the membrane exhibited excellent acid-base resistance and long-term operation stability. This study supplies an effective surface modification method for preparing hollow fiber NF membranes used for removing heavy metal and recovering rare earth metal from wastewater.

A highly efficient and green adsorbent for anionic dyes synthesized from whole pine needles modified with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride: synthesis, kinetic, and thermodynamic investigation

A highly efficient and green adsorbent for anionic dyes synthesized from whole pine needles modified with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride: synthesis, kinetic, and thermodynamic investigation

Synthesis of cellulose graft cyclic anhydride and epoxide alternating copolyesters in a DBU/ DMSO/CO2 solvent system

A series of cellulose grafted alternating cyclic anhydride (CA) and epoxide (EPO) copolyesters (cell-g-P(CA-alt-EPO)) have been prepared in the novel DBU/DMSO/CO2 cellulose solvent system. The DBU acted both as a reagent for cellulose dissolution and as a catalyst for ring-opening copolymerization (ROCOP) of cellulose with EPO and CA. The structural features and thermal performances of cell-g-P(CA-alt-EPO) were characterized via MALDI-TOF, FT-IR NMR, TGA, DSC and XPS. Perfectly alternating sequence distributions and controlled molecular weights of a series of cell-g-P(CA-alt-EPO) were easily achieved by a variation of the CA or EPO. The cell-g-P(CA-alt-EPO) also had satisfactory UV-absorbing properties and cellulose grafted phthalic anhydride and glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride exhibited outstanding antibacterial behavior. Antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were 96.7% and 99.4% respectively. Thus, cell-g-P(CA-alt-EPO) with good solubility, melt processability, UV absorption and antibacterial properties have potential applications in UV-shielding and antibacterial agent fields.

A mussel-inspired coating for cost-effective and environmentally friendly CO2 capture

Nowadays, finding innovative technologies to efficiently adsorb/desorb CO2 over several cycles with low energy consumption is a pressing environmental concern. In this work, a new bioionspired coating based on the copolymerization of benzene-1,2-diol and hexamethylenediamine, with a CO2 uptake of 7.28 mmol/g under humidified conditions with an outstanding chemical stability and regenerability process is reported. Further functionalization with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride increases the uptake capacity up to 9.96 mmol/g while lowering the desorption temperature down to 50 °C for 20 min. Moreover, the coating shows strong adhesion on cotton and paper, without modifying their intrinsic permeability and mechanical properties, allowing for the recycling of fully available and environmentally friendly biomass. These results demonstrate the competitive advantages of this bioinspired coating compared with current technologies to capture CO2 while accomplishing the resource efficiency of bioeconomy policies.

The Use of a Barley-Based Well to Define Cationic Betaglucan to Study Mammalian Cell Toxicity Associated with Interactions with Biological Structures.

Among potential macromolecule-based pharmaceuticals, polycations seem particularly interesting due to their proven antimicrobial properties and use as vectors in gene therapy. This makes an understanding of the mechanisms of these molecules' interaction with living structures important, so the goal of this paper was to propose and carry out experiments that will allow us to characterize these phenomena. Of particular importance is the question of toxicity of such structures to mammalian cells and, in the work presented here, two lines, normal fibroblasts 3T3-L1 and A549 lung cancer, were used to determine this. In this work, three well-defined cationic derivatives of barley-derived betaglucans obtained in a reaction with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (BBGGTMAC) with different degrees of cationization (50, 70, and 100% per one glucose unit) and electrostatic charge were studied. The studies address interactions of these polymers with proteins (bovine serum proteins and BSA), nucleic acids (DNA), glycosaminoglycans (heparin), and biological membranes. The results described in this study make it possible to indicate that toxicity is most strongly influenced by interactions with biological membranes and is closely related to the electrostatic charge of the macromolecule. The presentation of this observation was the goal of this publication. This paper also shows, using fluorescently labeled variants of polymers, the penetration and impact on cell structure (only for the polymer with the highest substitution binding to cell membranes is observed) by using confocal and SEM (for the polymer with the highest degree of substitution, and the appearance of additional structures on the surface of the cell membrane is observed). The labeled polymers are also tools used together with dynamic light scattering and calorimetric titration to study their interaction with other biopolymers. As for the interactions with biological membranes, lipid Langmuir monolayers as model membrane systems were used.

Quaternized Chitosan Derivatives as Viable Antiviral Agents: Structure-Activity Correlations and Mechanisms of Action.

Cationic polysaccharides have demonstrated significant antimicrobial properties and have great potential in medical applications, where the antiviral activity is of great interest. As of today, alcohols and oxidizing agents are commonly used as antiviral disinfectants. However, these compounds are not environmentally safe, have short activity periods, and may cause health issues. Therefore, this study aimed to develop metal-free and environmentally friendly quaternary chitosans (QCs) with excellent long-lasting virucidal activity. To evaluate this, both single and double QCs were obtained using AETMAC ([2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]-trimethylammonium chloride) and GTMAC (glycidyl trimethylammonium chloride) quaternary precursors. Further, this study investigated the influence of the quaternary functional group, charge density, and molecular weight (Mw) on the antiviral properties of QCs. It is proposed that the higher charge density, along with the length of alkyl linkers, and hydrophobic interactions affected the antiviral activity of QCs. The findings demonstrated that heterogeneously functionalized chitosan exhibited excellent antiviral activity against both the enveloped virus φ6 and the nonenveloped viruses φX174 and MS2. These quaternized chitosan derivatives have promising potential as viable antiviral agents, as hand/surface sanitizers, or in other biomedical applications.

Solvent-free functionalization of sawdust with quaternary ammonium groups: Application to the biosorption of two anionic dyes

The improvement of sawdust reactivity through simple chemical modification strategies represent an interesting method to extend the field of application or improve the natural performances of this abundant and available waste. In this work, sawdust was modified with Glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTAC), an organic compound bearing a quaternary ammonium group. The objective was to obtain a modified sawdust with a permanent cationic charge. The modification of the material was confirmed by solid state 13C NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. The anion exchange capacity of modified sawdust (Sa-G) was demonstrated by the ability of sawdust to exclusively adsorb cations before modification and anions after modification. This anionic exchange property was applied for the adsorption of two anionic dyes (Procion Red MX-5B (PR) and Evans Blue (EB)). Generally, the material was more effective in acidic conditions due to the acid-base properties of sawdust. Compared to EB, the less charged and smaller PR adsorbs more quantitatively on the material and with faster kinetics (Equilibrium reached after only 30 min, while more than 24 h were needed in the case of EB). Thermodynamic study also reveals an exothermic process in the case of PR and endothermic in the case of EB. Under optimal conditions, the maximum adsorption capacities were 121.8 μmol g−1 for PR and 103.1 μmol g−1 for EB. Desorption tests showed that the material can be recycled by desorption of dyes in 0.1 M sodium hydroxide solution. After 5 adsorption-desorption cycles performance losses of only 15% for EB and 30% for PR were recorded.

Coating with cationic inulin enhances the drug release profile and in vitro anticancer activity of lecithin-based nano drug delivery systems

Core-shell structured lipidic nanoparticles (LNPs) were developed using lecithin sodium acetate (Lec-OAc) ionic complex as a core unit and quaternized inulin (QIn) as the shell part. Inulin (In) was modified using glycidyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (GTMAC) as a positively charged shell part and used for coating the negatively surface charged Lec-OAc. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the core was determined as 1.047 × 10−4 M, which is expected to provide high stability in blood circulation as a drug-carrying compartment. The amounts of curcumin (Cur) and paclitaxel (Ptx) loaded to LNPs (CurPtx-LNPs), and quaternized inulin-coated LNPs (Cur-Ptx-QIn-LNPs) were optimized to obtain mono-dispersed particles with maximum payload. The total amount of 2.0 mg of the drug mixture (1 mg Cur and 1 mg Ptx) was the optimized quantity for QIn-LNPs and CurPtx-QIn-LNPs due to the favorable physicochemical properties determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) studies. This inference was confirmed by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR). SEM and TEM images clearly revealed the spherical shapes of LNPs and QIn-LNPs, and QIn covered the LNPs completely. The cumulative release measurements of Cur and Ptx from CurPtx-QIn-LNPs, along with the kinetic studies, showed a significant decrease in the release period of drug molecules with the effect of the coating. At the same time, Korsmeyer-Peppas was the best diffusion-controlled release model. Coating of the LNPs with QIn increased the cell-internalization of NPs to the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines, resulting in a better toxicity profile than the empty LNPs.

Synthesis of Cationic Quaternized Nanolevan Derivative for Small Molecule and Nucleic Acid Delivery.

Levan is a biopolymer composed of fructose chains covalently linked by β-2,6 glycosidic linkages. This polymer self-assembles into a nanoparticle of uniform size, making it useful for a wide range of applications. Also, levan exhibits various biological activities such as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor, that make this polymer very attractive for biomedical application. In this study, levan synthesized from Erwinia tasmaniensis was chemically modified by glycidyl trimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) to produce cationized nanolevan (QA-levan). The structure of the obtained GTMAC-modified levan was determined by FT-IR, 1H-NMR and elemental (CHN) analyzer. The size of the nanoparticle was calculated using the dynamic light scattering method (DLS). The formation of DNA/QA-levan polyplex was then investigated by gel electrophoresis. The modified levan was able to increase the solubility of quercetin and curcumin by 11-folds and 205-folds, respectively, compared to free compounds. Cytotoxicity of levan and QA-levan was also investigated in HEK293 cells. This finding suggests that GTMAC-modified levan should have a potential application for drug and nucleic acid delivery.

Quaternary ammonium substituted dextrin‐based biocompatible cationic nanoparticles with ultrahigh pH stability for drug delivery

AbstractCationic nanoparticles (NPs) are preferred for therapeutic applications due to its better uptake by mammalian cells. However, preparing cationic polymeric NPs with stability in wide pH range along with limited toxicity remains a challenge. Dextrin, a carbohydrate‐based natural biological macromolecule holds great potential in biomedical applications. Further, it is an inexpensive and abundant raw material which has high pH stability making it more advantageous over other widely explored macromolecules like chitosan. Herein, we report a simple process for preparing biocompatible cationic dextrin (CD) NPs. A series of CDs were prepared through a single‐step reaction by incorporating quaternary ammonium groups onto the polymeric backbone using varying amount of glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride. Formation of uniform spherical CD NPs having size within 100 nm were achieved by a facile synthesis process of ionic gelation using a biocompatible cross‐linker sodium tripolyphosphate. The prepared CD NPs remained stable across the pH range of 5.5–11 and demonstrated approximately 75% cellular internalization within 6 h. The CD NPs were also found to be both cytocompatible and hemocompatible. Next, the chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin was encapsulated within CD NPs, which is one of the most common chemotherapeutic agents used for the treatment of various types of cancers including breast, lung, ovarian and bladder. The Dox‐loaded CD NPs showed better drug release at acidic pH conditions and induced more than 80% cell death within 24 h at just 2 μg/ml concentration when tested against HeLa cell lines, thus, proving to be a potential drug delivery vehicle for cancer therapy applications.

Quaternization of Porous Cellulose Beads and Their Use for Removal of Humic Acid from Aqueous Medium

Porous cellulose beads were quaternized with glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) to explore a potential use of them as an adsorbent for removal of humic acid (HA) from aqueous medium. The introduction of quaternary ammonium groups was confirmed by FT-IR and XPS analysis. The content of introduced quaternary ammonium groups increased with an increase in the GTMAC concentration. The adsorption capacity increased with a decrease in the initial pH value and attained the maximum value at pH 3 and increased with an increase in the content of quaternary ammonium groups. The removal % increased with the dose of quaternized cellulose beads at both pH 3.0 and 6.0. The adsorption process obeyed the pseudo-second order kinetic model and exhibited a better fit to the Langmuir isotherm model, suggesting that the adsorption of HA is accomplished through the electrostatic interaction between a quaternary ammonium group introduced and a dissociated carboxy group of a HA molecule. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained in this study is comparable to or higher than those published by other articles. HA loaded was completely released to NaOH solutions at higher than 100 mM to regenerate the quaternized cellulose beads. The above-mentioned results clearly show that the quaternized cellulose beads prepared in this study can be used as a regenerable adsorbent with high capacity for removal of HA from aqueous medium.