Ethyl cellulose (EC) composites modified with 20.0 wt % polyethylenimine (PEI) (PEI/ECs) demonstrated effective hexavalent chromium, [Cr(VI)], removal from solutions with a wide pH range. For example, 4.0 mg/L Cr(VI) solution with a pH below 3.0 was completely purified by 3.0 g/L PEI/ECs within 5 min, much faster than the as-received EC (2 h) and activated carbon (several hours). These PEI/ECs adsorbents has overcome the low pH limitation of Cr(VI) removal; for example, 4.0 mg/L Cr(VI) solution with a pH of 11.0 was completely purified within 15 min. These adsorbents followed chemical adsorption as revealed from the pseudo-second-order kinetic study. These PEI/ECs following the isotherm Langmuir model have a maximum adsorption capacity of 36.8 mg/g, much higher than pure EC (12 mg/g), tetrabutylammonium-modified celluloses (16.67 mg/g), and magnetic carbon (16 mg/g). The reduction of Cr(VI) to Cr(III) by the oxidation of amine groups and hydroxyl groups of PEI/ECs was verified as the main mechanism for the Cr(VI) removal.
Keywords: Cr(VI) removal; adsorption; ethyl cellulose (EC); kinetics; polyethylenimine (PEI); redox reaction.