Synthesis, characterization and determination of the metal ions adsorption capacity of cellulose modified with p-aminobenzoic groups

this paper describes the synthesis and characterization of p-aminobenzoic modified cellulose (cell-pab), as well as the separation and preconcentration of cd(ii), cu(ii), ni(ii), pb(ii) and zn(ii) ions from an aqueous medium using a cell-pab bath and the column technique. the quantity of p-aminobenzoic groups attached to the cellulose surface, i.e., 1.81±0.04 mmol/g, was determined by elemental analysis. the ft-ir spectra of cell-pab revealed characteristic bands of p-aminobenzoic groups, indicating the desired functionalization of the cellulose surface. the adsorptive capacities for the metals (ns) cd, cu, ni, pb and zn (ns) were, respectively, 1.72 ± 0.02, 1.96 ± 0.02, 1.88 ± 0.04, 2.01 ± 0.03 and 1.93 ± 0.03 mmol/g. metal separations performed in flow experiments using a column packed with 1 g of cell-pab and 5 ml of 1.5 mol/l hcl solution as eluent achieved an almost 100% metal ions recovery rate.