Surface Engineering of Cellulose for Phenols and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid (2,4-D) Removal

The cellulose was extracted from abundantly available oil palm agrowaste in Malaysia. The cheap sorbents were prepared by modification of cellulose with carboxylic acids such as EDTA, fumaric and maleic acid. Modifications of cellulose are carried out using soxhlet apparatus. The carboxylic acids 0.1M of fumaric acid, maleic acid and EDTA each was substituted on the cellulose O-H group at carbon position C-2, C-3 and C-6. The metal, phenol and phenol derivative 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid are the main pollutant obtained from industrial and agricultural sources. This study was conducted for the purpose of determining the usage of cellulose in removing phenol and 2,4-D in water. Analysis on surface engineered cellulose onto phenol, 2,4-D and metal ions are carried out in this study. Metal loading onto the modified cellulose was studied using lead ion. Cellulose-malate gives the highest lead ion removal (98%) with adsorption capacity, qe of 62.8 mg/g. For 2,4-D removal, cellulose-malate (Pb-loaded) showed the highest sorption of 2,4-D compared to other modified cellulose, with sorption percentage of 85.2% and qe of 42.6 mg/g. On the other hand, cellulose-EDTA (Pb-loaded) gives the highest sorption percentage of phenol at 79.2% and adsorption capacity, qe of 39.6 mg/g. The results show that modified cellulose has higher sorption capacity for divalent metal ions and phenol and 2,4-D. The adsorption of 2,4-D and phenol is found to be more effective in acidic condition (pH=5) compared to alkali condition (pH=10). The adsorption process follows Freundlich adsorption isotherm and pseudo second-order, which is based on chemical adsorption mechanism.