Preparation and Characterization of Crosslinked Carboxymethyl Cellulose‐Based Membrane for Methylene Blue Adsorption

ABSTRACT The present work describes the production of crosslinked carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) membrane using epichlorohydrin as a crosslinking agent. The membrane was then characterized through Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and swelling study. During these measurements, the successful crosslinking of the membrane was validated, and the crosslinked membrane represented an excellent swelling ability in all acid‐base conditions. Therefore, the crosslinked membrane was then used as potential adsorbent for the removal of methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions. The results showed that the pseudo‐second order model kinetic and the Langmuir model isotherm were best fitted to experimental data. The adsorption mechanism of MB onto crosslinked membrane favored chemisorption with a maximum adsorption capacity of 128.1 mg/g. These results suggest that the crosslinking membrane could be used as an efficient adsorbent in wastewater treatment.