Rapid removal of Cr(III) from high-salinity wastewater by cellulose-g-poly-(acrylamide-co-sulfonic acid) polymeric bio-adsorbent

A cellulose-g-poly-(acrylamide-co-sulfonic acid) polymeric bio-adsorbent (CASA) was prepared by grafting copolymerization, and used to adsorb Cr(III) from leather wastewater. The SEM, XRD, FTIR, and XPS results showed that CASA contains many spherical particles and functional groups such as -NH2, -C=O, and -HSO3. The adsorption experiments revealed that CASA presented excellent adsorption performance for Cr(III) (274.69 mg/g of max adsorption capacity) from high-salinity wastewater, which was much better than other reported adsorbents with different structures. Meanwhile, adsorption equilibrium could be reached within 10 min due to the introduction of abundant sulfonic acid groups on its surface. In addition, the adsorption process followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, and the experimental data conformed to the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. Moreover, the main adsorption mechanisms include chelation, electrostatic interactions, and cation exchange, which provide an important theoretical basis for the removal of toxic inorganic pollutants from leather wastewater.

Automated summary

The cellulose-g-poly-(acrylamide-co-sulfonic acid) bio-adsorbent CASA showed excellent adsorption performance for Cr(III) from high-salinity wastewater, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 274.69 mg/g. The adsorption equilibrium could be reached within 10 minutes, and the main mechanisms include chelation, electrostatic interactions, and cation exchange.