Phosphate Imprinted Polythia longifolia Cellulose: A Promising Biosorbent for the Removal of Heavy Metal Ions in Water

Cellulose isolated from the seed of Polythia longifolia was imprinted with phosphate functional group to produce Cell-Phosphate in order to remove Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions from the water. Characterization of Cell-Phosphate included the use of Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction analysis (XRD), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTA), zeta potential, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Particle Size Dispersion (PSD). The FTIR revealed the different functional groups in Cell-Phosphate while the XRD showed a crystallinity index of 30.15%. The corresponding DTA data confirmed the assigned degradation temperature ranges. The zeta potential increased with increased pH while SEM revealed the surface of Cell-Phosphate to be homogeneous with fibre structure. Cell-Phosphate removed Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions with an adsorption capacity (40.00-49.40 mg g−1) that compares favourably with other known agricultural-based adsorbents in the literature. The metal ions removal fitted well for pseudo-second-order model. The Gibb’s free energy change (∆Go) suggested a spontaneous sorption process while entropy change (∆So) suggested that the metal ions are stable on Cell-Phosphate. Conclusively, Cell-Phosphate is a promising material for the sorption of Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions through a mechanism reaveled by Density Functional Theory (DFT) to be ionic interaction with a desorption capacity above 70% for the metal ions in the first regeneration cycle. • Polythia longifolia cellulose was imprinted with phosphate functional group • Cell-Phosphate exhibited high % removal towards Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions • Cell-Phosphate has high regeneration capacity towards Ni2+, Cu2+, Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions • Cell-Phosphate is a promising agent for wastewater purification