Effective Removal of the Remazol Yellow GR Dye Using Cellulose Functionalized by Basic Groups

Adsorption has been researched attempting to minimize the pollution caused by dyes, which represents a serious environmental problem as contamination of surface and ground water. Therefore, cellulose and its modified forms with amine and thiols groups constitute a class of versatile adsorbents for the removal of anionic dyes in aqueous solution. In this context, this work reports the preparation of cellulose modified by ethylene sulfide and ethylenediamine (Cel-ESEN), through the reaction of the cellulose modified by ethylene sulfide (CEL-ES) and ethylenediamine (EN). Materials were characterized by elemental analysis, which showed in the Cel-ESEN matrix 10.12 ± 0.10%, 5.52 ± 0.06% of sulfur and nitrogen, respectively. Nuclear magnetic resonance in the solid state of 13C (13C NMR) showed, for the Cel-ESEN matrix, a peak related to CH2 groups from the molecules incorporated in the cellulose biopolymer. Crystalline Index obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) was in the order pure Cellulose > Cel-Cl > Cel-ES > Cel-ESEN. The adsorbent matrix (Cel-ESEN) was used in the removal of the remazol yellow GR (RY) dye in aqueous medium. Data obtained experimentally from kinetic study had the best adjustment to the proposed pseudo-second-order model. The adsorption process occurs in monolayer, is endothermic and thermodynamically favorable. Adsorption capacity of the modified material became 118 times higher than the starting material. These results suggest that the obtained biopolymer can be used as an alternative material to remove RY in aqueous solution.