Assessment of the capability of eucalyptus maiden sawdust and its modified cellulosic compounds to remove inorganic pollutants contained in leachate form NDUBA dumping site

Abstract

The presence of toxic metals from the landfill leachates is a global problem on environment. These chemicals contribute to the pollution of ground water, soil, and surface. Through bio-magnification and bio-concentration, they also affect the whole ecosystem and cause different diseases on living organisms including human and animals. To contribute to the research of solutions to these problems, modified cellulose extracted from Eucalyptus maiden sawdust materials were used to treat leachate which was produced from Nduba landfill site. Chemical modification of the extracted cellulose was achieved by using Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the presence of pyridine used as catalyst. Both extracted and modified cellulosic compounds were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The capacity of modified cellulose to adsorb toxic metals, Cu, Cd, Fe, Mn, and Pb was determined using Microwave plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (MP-AES) by comparing their concentrations in leachate before and after its treatment by cellulosic compounds. The obtained results showed that the removal capacity of the unmodified cellulose was 47.05%, 40.00%, 38.65%, 36.00%, 37.98% while that of modified cellulose was 94.00%, 89.33%, 95.50%, 77.60% and 76.74%, for Pb, Cd, Fe, Cu, and Mn, respectively. Modified cellulosic compounds indicated higher ability to adsorb heavy metals and thus its higher ability to bind the positive charges of the metal ions