Removal of lead ions from aqueous solutions by modified cellulose

The new adsorbent was prepared by mixing cellulose with dicyclohexyl-18- crown-6 via microwave irradiation method and it was used to remove lead ions from aqueous solution. In contrast to the traditional way (in which grafted polymers are produced by using chemical-free radical producers), this method is rapid, reproducible, and gives a high-quality product. Different physicochemical techniques such as FTIR, SEM, and XRD and TGA were used for the characterization of the produced adsorbent. Based on the ANOVA statistical value, the adsorption of Pb²⁺ ion onto grafted cellulose has been found to be significant, with very low probability (p) values (<0.001). The pH and initial concentration were observed to be the most significant factors that affected the Pb²⁺ ion removal from the analysis of variance. Pseudo-second-order and Langmuir equations were applied to the adsorption of Pb²⁺ ion and under the optimized conditions, the maximum absorption capacity in modified cellulose of Pb²⁺ was 58.3 mg/g. Various factors which affect metal ion adsorption, including temperature, power of hydrogen, shaking time, adsorbent quantity, and metal ions concentration were studied. More importantly, the adsorbent could be reused by using 0.1 M nitric acid.