Ion exchange properties of carboxylate bagasse

Bagasse fibers were chemically modified using three different reactions: esterification using monochloro acetic acid, esterification using succinic anhydride, and oxidation using sodium periodate and sodium chlorite to prepare cation exchanger bearing carboxylic groups. Bagasse was crosslinked using epichlorohydrin before chemical modification to avoid loss of its constituents during the chemical modification. The structure of the prepared derivatives was proved using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and chemical methods. The ability of the prepared bagasse cation exchangers to adsorb heavy metal ions (Cu+2, Ni+2, Cr+3, Fe+3), on a separate basis or in a mixture of them, at different metal ion concentration was tested. Thermal stability of the different bagasse derivative was studied using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)