Cassava root husks powder as green adsorbent for the removal of Cu(II) from natural river water

Through a series of simple processes, cassava root husks were turned into a fine powder of controlled particle size (63–75 μm). FTIR spectrum demonstrated the existence of alcohol, amine and carboxylic groups; and elemental analysis confirmed the presence of elements of interest such as sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen. Cross-polarized {1H}-13C NMR technique indicated the existence of methionine and thiamine through the signals observed at 55 ppm and 54 ppm, respectively, and the point of zero charge (pHpzc) was achieved at pH 5.2. The material was applied in solid-phase extraction of Cu(II) via batch experiments. Optimum adsorption pH was found to be in range of 3–6 and in the kinetic experiment the equilibrium was attained in 1 min. The highest adsorption capacity was 0.14 mmol g−1. The adsorption data were fit to the modified Langmuir equation, and the maximum amount of metal species extracted from the solution, Ns, was determined to be ∼0.14 mmol g−1, which is an indicative that the main adsorption mechanism is through chemisorption. Under optimized conditions, the material was utilized in preconcentration experiments, which culminated in an enrichment factor of 41.3-fold. With the aid of the enrichment factor, experiments were carried out to determine the Cu(II) content in tap water and natural water. Preconcentration method was also applied to a certified reference material (1643e) and the concentration found was 23.03 ± 0.79 μg L−1, whereas the specified Cu(II) concentration was 22.7 ± 0.31 μg L−1.