Fabrication of magnetic cellulose microspheres by response surface methodology and adsorption study for Cu (II)

Regenerated cellulose microspheres have many characteristics and have been applied in many areas. In this study regenerated magnetic cellulose microspheres were prepared by mixing the cellulose solution and Fe3O4 nanoparticles, followed by emulsification and precipitation. The microspheres exhibited porous structure with rough surface and are nearly superparamagnetic. Effect of ratio of cellulose solution and liquid paraffin, stirring speed and amount of emulsifying agent on particle size were evaluated by response surface methodology and amount of emulsifying agent was found the most influential variable. A valid model was established to predict the response and magnetic particles with controlled size in the range of 50–900 μm could be fabricated by varying the dispersion parameters. The adsorption of Cu (II) on the microspheres was also investigated and it could be described by Langmuir model. Besides, both pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order models were applicable to describe the adsorption kinetics and process could be divided into adsorption on surface of the microspheres and intraparticle diffusion with film diffusion involved.