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Copper ion-imprinted bacterial cellulose for selectively removing heavy metal ions from aqueous solution

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Abstract

Novel surface copper ion-imprinted bacterial cellulose nanofiber nonwoven adsorbent was fabricated via surface ion-imprinting technique combined with electrospinning technology for highly selective adsorption of copper ions in aqueous solutions. The as-prepared nanofiber nonwoven adsorbent was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, specific surface area, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray, respectively. The adsorption capacity and recognition selectivity performance towards copper ions were investigated by batch experiments. The experimental data indicate that the ion-imprinted nanofiber nonwoven adsorbent presents excellent adsorption ability and high recognition selectivity towards copper ions in binary systems using zinc, nickel, lead and cadmium as competitive ions. The maximum copper ion adsorption capacity is determined to be 152.2 mg/g at 298 K, which is higher than that of the other imprinted adsorbents. The selectivity coefficients for copper ion adsorption in binary metal ion solution of copper/zinc, copper/nickel, copper/lead and copper/cadmium reach up to 47, 101, and 162, respectively. As illustrated by Scatchard models, the specific recognition site with high copper ion affinity should be a key factor affecting selective adsorption. In addition, the nanofiber nonwoven adsorbent exhibits good anti-interference ability and reusability. The nanofiber nonwoven adsorbent can be reused at least ten cycles with only 7.9% reduction in adsorption capacity. Therefore, the prepared copper ion-imprinted nanofiber nonwoven can be an effective adsorbent for separation or enrichment of copper ions for water treatment applications.

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Funding

This work was supported by Tianjin Science Technology Research Funds of China (19JCZDJC37500). We would like to thank the Analytical & Testing Center of Tiangong University for structured illumination microscopy work.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, School of Textiles Science and Engineering, Tiangong University, No 399 BingShuiXi Street, XiQing District, Tianjin, 300387, China

    Kang Xiaorui, Zhu Cong, Xiong Pin, Du Zhanwen & Cai Zhijiang

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  1. Kang Xiaorui
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Correspondence to Cai Zhijiang.

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Xiaorui, K., Cong, Z., Pin, X. et al. Copper ion-imprinted bacterial cellulose for selectively removing heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. Cellulose 29, 4001–4019 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-022-04519-4

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