Cassava root husks powder as green adsorbent

for the removal of Cu(II) from natural river water

M. H. P. Wondracek1; A.O. Jorgetto1; A. C. P. Silva1; G. R. Castro1; R. I. V; Silva1; M. J. Saeki1; M.

A. U. Martines2; S. M. A. Jorge1
1 – Departamento de Química e Bioquímica – Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” - UNESP
Distrito de Rubião Junior S/N – CEP: 18618-970 - Botucatu, SP – Brasil
Email: marcoswondracek@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION RESULTS
RESULTSAND
ANDDISCUSSION
DISCUSSION
Toxic metals are still one of the greatest concerns regarding
environmental pollution (Baird and Cann, 2011). They are present in
pesticides, dyes, fertilizers, fossil fuels, batteries, etc. (Baird and Cann,
2011).
 – COOH
Some health diseases that are associated to the contamination by metals
are Alzheimer's, blood pressure, lung cancer, stomach cancer, gliomas and
others diseases (Strachan, 2010). νC–H νC–N
In view of the high risk that metals pose to living beings, many 1368-1244
techniques have been proposed to remediate wastewaters. One of the
main techniques is the use of adsorbent materials like zeolites, silicas, νO–H
polymers, cellulose, industrial/agricultural wastes, among others (Mohan et
al, 2002). Fig. 1 Infrared spectrum of cassava root husk with some organic Fig. 2 Kinetic study of adsorption Cu(II) and
Biomaterials have presented themselves as a great alternative to groups absorption bands. pseudo-second-order kinetic study (inset).

produce a less costly sorbent for the remediation of wastewater. Castor

tree leaves (Martins, 2013), sugar cane bagasse (Gurgel and Gil, 2009)
and banana peels (Castro, 2011) were already studied regarding their
adsorption capacities, and showed that they can effectively remove toxic
metals from aqueous media.
In Brazil, cassava is a very common plant whose root is highly
appreciated for its characteristic flavor. On the other hand, cassava root
husks do not have any known application. Due to the cassava
industrial/agricultural exploitation, it is expected that its husks are
abundantly generated, therefore its reuse as a metal biosorbent acquires
an interesting application for such a waste.
Fig. 3 - Effect of pH solution on the adsorption of Cu(II). Fig. 4 - Adsorption isotherm of Cu(II) and linear shape of
adsorption isotherm of Cu(II) (inset).
OBJECTIVES
OBJECTIVES
Table 2.Determination of Cu(II) in natural water, tap water and in the reference material (1643e).
The objectives of this study were to characterize this material obtained by
Preconcentrated Calculated Cu(II)
elemental analysis and FTIR, evaluate the extraction of Cu (II) from water Sample
sample (μg L-1) concentration (μg L-1)
and apply in column experiments to test its ability to preconcentrate metal Natural water 74.65 ± 1.6 1.808 ± 0.039
from natural river water. Tap water 150.56 ± 0.01 36.87 ± 0.13
Reference material 951 ± 32.92 23.03 ± 0.79 (22.7 ± 0.31)a
MATERIALS
MATERIALSAND
ANDMETHODS
METHODS
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
Dry • Besides low cost and availability, cassava husks present good adsorptive
properties.
• The maximum adsorption capacity was similar to other related materials (0.14
cassava husk
mmol g-1-1).
Grinded

cassava root heated chamber at

100 °C • The low cost adsorbent, when applied in continuous flow mode, presented an
enrichment factor of 41.3 and an exceptional regeneration capacity which
easily enables its safe use for 40 adsorption/desorption cycles.
Powder 63-75 µm Powder
• Thus, cassava husks may be useful in the determination of Cu(II) ions at trace
levels when expensive equipments are not available.
Sieve

Willy Mill

• In the batch experiments some parameters were investigated as kinetic REFERENCES

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Spectrometry (FAAS).
• Continuous flow experiments were performed with 5 mg of this material, which
was packed into a 4 mm across a glass cylindrical tube. The system was set to ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
provide a continuous flow of 1.5 mL min -1-1.
• Firstly, one of the pumps injected 50 mL of a 10 μg L-1-1 Cu(II) solution (pH 5–6)
through the tube containing the material. Later, the flux commutator was shifted
to switch the metal solution to 2,0 mol L-1-1 HNO33 solution, and then Cu(II) ions
were eluted from the column...