Study of the effect of oxidative-bisulfite modification of the cotton cellulose on its ion exchange properties

The effect of chemical modification on the sorption properties of cotton cellulose toward Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions was studied. The modification was carried out in two stages: oxidation of cellulose with the formation of dialdehydocellulose, followed by its sulfonation. The optimal conditions for modifying the cellulose to produce a sorbent capable to remove effectively the heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions of corresponding salts were elucidated. The modified sorbent exceeds the native cellulose in the sorption capacity (in terms of sorption maximum) about 3 times, therewith the time of extraction of heavy metal ions is reduced from 45 to 8 min. The high sorption properties are defined by the formation of new sorption sites -SO 3 Na along with initially formed -COOH groups on the sorbent surface.