Pre-concentration and determination of tartrazine dye from aqueous solutions using modified cellulose nanosponges

• Modified cellulose based nanosponges were used as new sorbent for dyes.
• The sorbent was characterized.
• Separation/ preconcentration of dyes were accomplished to determine tartrazine dye in water.

In this study, a new absorbent based on cellulose nanosponges modified with methyltrioctylammonium chloride (aliquat 336) was prepared and used for pre-concentration, removal and determination of tartrazine dye, using UV–vis spectrophotometry. This adsorbent was fully characterized using various instrumental techniques such as SEM, FTIR and XRD spectra. The pre-concentration and removal procedures were studied in column and batch modes, respectively. The effects of parameters such as pH of the aqueous medium, methyltrioctylammounium chloride dose, adsorbent amount, desorbing conditions and interfering ions on the adsorption of tartrazine were investigated and optimized. The fitting experimental data with conventional isotherm models revealed that the adsorption followed the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) model and the maximum adsorption capacity for tartrazine was 180 mg/g with modified nanosponges. Under the optimized conditions, the calibration curve was linear over the range of 2–300 ng/mL and the limit of detection was 0.15 ng/mL. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for 20 and 100 ng/mL of tartrazine were 3.1% and 1.5%, respectively. The proposed method was applied for pre-concentration and determination of tartrazine dye in different water samples.

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