Crude and Modified Corncobs as Complexing Agents for Water Decontamination

E. Clave , Jeanne François , Laurent Billon (1) , G. Sèbe , B. de Jéso , Marie-Françoise Guimon

1 IPREM - Institut des sciences analytiques et de physico-chimie pour l'environnement et les materiaux

The ability of corncobs to retain copper ions was studied with respect to the origin of the materials (inner or outer parts of the cobs), the granulometry, the pH, and chemical modifications with maleic anhydride (MA) and succinic anhydride (SA). Esterification, characterized by Fourier transform infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, led to a large increase in copper retention in comparison with unmodified corncobs. The retention capacity was improved up to 6 times with SA-modified corncobs at pH 5. The adsorption behavior of MA- and SA-grafted samples, with respect to copper, appeared to be different at pH 4 and pH 5, and this was attributed to a difference in the pKa values of the grafted carboxylic functions.

Mots clés: biomaterials; corncobs; modification; complexation; decontamination

Domaines: Chimie

E. Clave, Jeanne François, Laurent Billon, G. Sèbe, B. de Jéso, et al.. Crude and Modified Corncobs as Complexing Agents for Water Decontamination. Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2004, 91 (2), pp.820-826. ⟨10.1002/app.13179⟩. ⟨hal-01582053⟩