Chemical modification of a polysaccharide from Artemisia vulgaris engenders a supersorbent for the removal of Cd2+ from spiked high-hardness groundwater

Development of novel and chemically modified-natural materials for toxic heavy metal ions uptake from aqueous environment is hot topic of research nowadays. Mucilage from the seeds of Artemisia vulgaris was chemically modified to succinate then to its sodic form. The materials were characterized by Fourier-transformed infrared, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Batch series of experimentations were carried out to study the effects of sorbent dosage (10-90 mg/50 mL sorbate sample), pH (1-7), the concentration of Cd2+ (20-200 mg L-1), contact time (2-90 min), and temperature (298-338 K) on the sorption capacity of the sodic form of a hydrogel. Experimental sorption data were fitted to different isothermal and kinetic models. Langmuir isothermal model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model provided the best fit to the experimental data. Maximum sorption capacities of the sorbent (Q(max) in mg g(-1)) to sorb Cd2+ were found to be 263.15 mg g(-1) from distilled water and 243.90 mg g(-1) from spiked high hardness groundwater. The sorbent was found regenerable. The values of Delta G degrees, Delta H degrees, and Delta S degrees were found negative, which indicated that the sorption process is feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic.

Automated summary

The research on developing novel and chemically modified-natural materials for uptake of toxic heavy metal ions from aqueous environment is currently a hot topic. Mucilage from Artemisia vulgaris seeds were chemically modified and found to have a high sorption capacity for Cd2+ ions. Experimental data suggested that the sorption process is feasible, spontaneous, and exothermic.