Materials and preparation

The sugar cane bagasse was essentially composed of carbon(42.4%), oxygen

(49.5%) and hydrogen (6.1%), the nitrogen content being lower than 0.3%.
Several operations were conducted to prepare the material, including drying,
shredding and sieving. Drying was performed at 40°C in an oven until a constant
weight was reached. Shredding was carried out down to a particle size of4 mm
with a cutting mill.
Adsorption potential and Application
Heavy Metal Removal
The utilization of unmodified or modified SB as an adsorbent have been described
as a cheaper and effective technology for the removal of metal ions from
wastewater [10, 11]. The metal ion-binding mechanism of adsorption on SB is
attributed to its abundance of hydroxyl groups from cellulose, in which aqueous
medium favors ion exchange or complexation with metal ions. Batch studies [12]
using natural SB as a sorbent for removal of Cd(II) show the maximum adsorption
at pH 6.
Removal of dyes
Industrial and agricultural wastes pollute water with heavy metals, which reach
tissues through the food chain.
As a result, natural fiber, as sugarcane bagasse, presents greater potential to
remove dyes from wastewater.
Motor oil removal
The biomass acetylation has been extensively used to increase its oil sorption
capacity. It is observed that sugarcane bagasse acetylated presents greater
machine oil sorption capacity than polypropylene fibers.