Preparation and characterization of novel microstructure cellulosic sawdust material: application as potential adsorbent for wastewater treatment

The present work investigated the feasibility to develop of a new microstructure of a material from date palm sawdust in order to improve its adsorption properties. The preparation of the material consists of mechanical grinding of fibers, sieving of sawdust, extractibles extraction and then pretreatment with activating agent sulfuric acid at 1% and 40%. It was then followed by chemical treatment using urea by grafting reaction. The phases change due to chemical modification on sawdust particles was examined using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), spectroscopy Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and BET method. The hydrolysis at 40% has an effect on the increase of the material crystallinity, higher than the hydrolysis at 1%. An increase in the size of crystallites was also observed by XRD measurements. These results were related to the reduction of the amorphous fractions of wood, and, consequently, to the enrichment of the relative crystalline content. Indeed, the degradation of hemicellulose was observed, by FT-IR analysis, for treated samples. The treated sawdust at 40% acid has the better adsorption characters due to high surface area of 135 m(2)/g as compared to 44.4 m(2)/g for treated sawdut (1% acid), this is well supported by SEM micrographs wich also suggest has greater number of pores. Based on preliminary satisfactory results, the sawdust date palm provides a valuable addition to the existing conventional processes to better optimize the adsorption capacity along with low-cost potential application in wastewater treatment.