Adsorption of Cu(II), Cd(II), and Pb(II) from aqueous single metal solutions by sugarcane bagasse and mercerized sugarcane bagasse chemically modified with succinic anhydride

This work describes the preparation of new chelating material from mercerized sugarcane bagasse. The first part treats the chemical modification of non-mercerized sugarcane bagasse (SCB) and twice-mercerized sugarcane bagasse (MMSCB) with succinic anhydride. Mass percent gains (mpg) and degrees of succinylation (DS) of succinylated non- and twice-mercerized sugarcane bagasse 1 (SCB 1 and MMSCB 1) were calculated. MMSCB 1 exhibited an increase in mpg and DS of 49.2% and 0.9 mmol/g in relation to SCB 1. SCB 2 and MMSCB 2 were obtained by treatment of MMSCB 1 and SCB 1 with bicarbonate solution to release the carboxylate functions and characterized by FTIR. The second part evaluates and compares the adsorption capacity of SCB 2 and MMSCB 2 for Cu2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions in an aqueous single metal solution. Adsorption isotherms were developed using Langmuir model. MMSCB 2 exhibited an increase in Qmax for Cd2+ (43.6 mg/g) and Pb2+ (83.3 mg/g) in relation to SCB 2.