dianhydride and succinic anhydride exhibits the maximum
adsorption capacity of 149 mg g1 Cd (II) ions. Furthermore,
Gurgel et al. [16] reported that modified and mercerized sugarcane
bagasse with succinic anhydride can remove more than
200 mg g1 Cd (II) ions from aqueous solution. Mercerization is
an effective but expensive method for increasing the adsorption
capability of sugarcane bagasse-based cellulose.
On the other hand, graft copolymers based on cellulose can also
be used to develop desirable and low-cost technologies for metal
ion removal [17]. O’Connell et al. recently reviewed graft
copolymerization and found that it has become another powerful
modification method [13]. The side chains grafted onto functional
groups can be attached to the main chain of a polymer backbone
and form a branched copolymer. Graft copolymerization has been
successfully used to modify some agricultural wastes such as
banana [18] and sunflower stalks [19]. Zheng et al. [20] recently
modified corn stalks using graft copolymerization and produced a
new corn stalk copolymer with an adsorption capacity of
22.17 mg g1 Cd (II) ions. However, graft copolymerization for
sugarcane bagasse-based cellulose has not been thoroughly
evaluated. To the best of our knowledge, graft copolymerization
for sugarcane bagasse-based cellulose as heavy metal adsorbents
has never been reported before, even though graft copolymerization
is considered to be a useful modification technique [21–23].