Issue 85, 2017

Polyethylenimine-functionalized cellulose aerogel beads for efficient dynamic removal of chromium(vi) from aqueous solution

Abstract

For the highly effective removal of hexavalent chromium from aqueous solutions, a new polyethylenimine (PEI) grafted porous adsorbent, a cellulose@PEI aerogel (CPA-2) composite, was synthesized through a glutaraldehyde crosslinking reaction between the amine groups of PEI and the hydroxyl groups of cellulose. The physicochemical properties of this new adsorbent were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, EDX, XPS, etc., and the modification of grafting with PEI was demonstrated by FT-IR, EDX and XPS analyses. The effects of pH, contact time, initial concentration and PEI content on Cr(VI) sorption were systematically investigated. Experimental data were well described by the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second-order model in a batch system, demonstrating that chemisorption was the rate-controlling factor for Cr(VI) removal with CPA-2. Furthermore, the experimental maximum adsorption capacity of CPA-2 was 229.1 mg g−1, which was around 12 times higher than that of cellulose aerogel (CA) (18.7 mg g−1). The Thomas model was well fitted to the breakthrough curves of adsorption processes under different fixed-bed conditions. Above all, the exhausted bead-like adsorbent could be easily separated and regenerated without significant loss of adsorption capacity. Accordingly, this new composite material should be a promising sorbent for sewage disposal, with advantages of high performance, low-cost, biodegradability and excellent reusability.

Graphical abstract: Polyethylenimine-functionalized cellulose aerogel beads for efficient dynamic removal of chromium(vi) from aqueous solution

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
06 sep 2017
Accepted
18 nov 2017
First published
24 nov 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 54039-54052

Polyethylenimine-functionalized cellulose aerogel beads for efficient dynamic removal of chromium(VI) from aqueous solution

D. Guo, Q. An, Z. Xiao, S. Zhai and Z. Shi, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 54039 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA09940A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements