Hydrogel beads based on carboxymethyl cellulose for removal heavy metal ions

Environment-friendly carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) hydrogel beads were successfully prepared using epichlorohydrin (ECH) as a crosslinking agent in the suspension of fluid wax. There was an ether linkage formed between ECH and CMC, which was identified from bands in FTIR spectra of the prepared hydrogel. The prepared hydrogel beads with diameters about 4 mm were apparently spherical and fully transparent. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra indicated that the adsorption of metal ion onto the oxygen atom of carboxyl group led to change in crystallinity patterns of hydrogels. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) images clearly showed that the hydrogels had an internal porous structure. The adsorption capacity increased as initial concentrations of metal ions and the pH value of metal ion solution increased. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were employed to analyze the data from batch adsorption experiments. There are vey good correlation coefficients of linearized equations for Langmuir model, which indicated that the sorption isotherm of the hydrogel beads for metal ions can be fitted to the Langmuir model. The maximum adsorption amount of hydrogel beads for metal ions is 6.49, 4.06, and 5.15 mmol/g for Cu(II), Ni(II), and Pb(II), respectively. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011