Desorption of Lead Ions from Used Sodium Alginate-Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Adsorbent Beads

Abstract

Efficient removal of adsorbed lead ions from the sodium alginate-hydroxypropyl cellulose beads was necessary to guarantee their long-term use for repeated adsorption-desorption cycles. In this study, the desorption characteristics of previously adsorbed lead ions on sodium alginate-hydroxypropyl (SA-HPC) cellulose adsorbent beads were tested using various eluents such as sulfuric acid and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). SA-HPC adsorption beads were produced using 3:1 ratio of sodium alginate to hydroxypropyl cellulose via ionotropic gelation. Generally, using H2SO4 as eluent maintained an exceptional adsorption efficiency throughout in each cycle, but showed a weak desorption efficiency performance. The desorption efficiency using 0.1M EDTA, on the other hand, was found to be the most effective but resulted to the beads disintegration after the first cycle.