A green and simple method for preparation of an efficient palladium adsorbent based on cysteine functionalized 2,3-dialdehyde cellulose

A green and efficient adsorbent for adsorption of palladium ions was prepared from 2,3-dialdehyde cellulose (DAC) originating from nanocellulose from the green algae Cladophora. The DAC was functionalized with cysteine via reductive amination in a convenient one-pot procedure to provide the adsorbent. The adsorption properties for adsorbing palladium(II) ions, including capacity, adsorption isotherm and kinetics, were studied. The successful reductive amination of cysteine with 2,3-dialdehyde cellulose was confirmed by FT-IR, elemental analysis and XPS. The adsorbent was characterized by SEM, XRD, gas adsorption and TGA. The adsorbent had a high adsorption capacity (130 mg palladium per gram adsorbent) and enabled fast adsorption of palladium(II) ions from solution (80 % of maximum capacity reached in 2 h). Adsorbent materials suitable for both filters (fibrous) and column matrixes (spherical particles) could be obtained in an efficient manner by controlling the degree of oxidation while producing the DAC material.