Novel Biodegradable Polymeric Flocculant Based on Kenaf for Heavy Metal Removal

Novel biodegradable flocculant based on hybridization of polyacrylamide with cellulose derived from kenaf (hibiscus Cannabinus L) has been successfully synthesized. The hybrid polyacrylamide-cellulose has been synthesized using a microwave-assisted grafting method. The hybrid polyacrylamide-cellulose was characterized using FTIR and the result revealed that the grafting was occurred. The performance of the hybrid polyacrylamide-cellulose has been tested on the arsenic removal. As a comparison, the removal of arsenic was also done using solely polyacrylamide. The results obtained showed that that the hybrid polyacrylamide-cellulose flocculant was comparatively as good as polyacrylamide in removing arsenic.