Removal of Pb and Cd ions from contaminated water by dithizone-modified cellulose acetate nanosponges

A method for removing pb(ii) and cd(ii) ions from contaminated waters via a batch procedure by dithizone-modified cellulose acetate nanosponges as an adsorbent is proposed. determination of pb(ii) and cd(ii) ions in the initial and final samples were carried out by flame atomic absorption spectrometry technique. the adsorbent was prepared from waste photographic tapes. the time required for complete adsorption process was 6 seconds. while non-modified cellulose acetate nanosponges can adsorb only about 2.0 % of pb2+ from an aqueous solution of 50 mg l-1 and 1.5 % of cd2+ from a solution of 10 mg l-1,dithizone modification improved the efficiency to up to 99.5 and 95.5 %. maximum adsorption capacities of the dithizone-modified adsorbent were 787mg g-1for lead and 195 mg g-1for cadmium. © 2017,university of mohammed premier oujda morocco.