Microwave assisted modification of cellulose by gallic acid and its application for removal of aluminium from real samples.

Microwave assisted preparation of cellulose modified with gallic acid (MA-Cell-GA) was developed for high efficient adsorption of Al. The as-prepared modified cellulose has been characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and zeta potential measurements. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrum was utilized to proof the adsorption of Al. The effect of various experimental factors, as pH, amount of adsorbent, shaking time, initial metal ion concentration, temperature, concomitant ions and desorption conditions on the extraction efficiency was investigated and optimized in batch mode experiments. The adsorption capacity and the surface area of MA-Cell-GA were 59.6mgg and 160mg, respectively which were significantly higher than those of the sorbent obtained via traditional reflux procedure. The thermodynamic factors (ΔH° and ΔG°) values for adsorption of Al on MW-Cell-GA confirmed the non-spontaneousity and exothermic character of the adsorption process. It was indicated that the prepared adsorbent can be regenerated easily using EDTA. The procedure was successfully applied for the preconcentration of Al in water, rocks, blood and soil samples prior to the determination using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES).