Adsorption behavior of heavy metals onto chemically modified sugarcane bagasse

A new process for the xanthation of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) bagasse was investigated for the separation of cadmium, lead, nickel, zinc and copper from their aqueous solutions. Adsorption capacity of the charred xanthated sugarcane bagasse (CXSB) was found to be significantly more than the several biosorbents reported in the literatures. The modified material was characterized by FTIR and elemental analysis. The kinetics of sorption of the tested metals was fast, reaching equilibrium within 20–40 min. The maximum adsorption capacities evaluated in terms of mol/kg dry gel were 1.95 for Cd(II), 1.58 for Pb(II), 2.52 for Ni(II), 2.40 for Zn(II) and 2.91 for Cu(II), respectively. The high adsorption capacity and the kinetics results indicated that CXSB can be used as the selective adsorbent for the removal of these respective metal ions from wastewater.