Plasma assisted surface engineered natural fibers and its derivatives for adsorptive removal of heavy metals*

Plasma surface modification is a greener technique that has been used for surface modification of materials for wide variety of applications. Heavy metal pollution is one of the serious issues in the current scenario. The ability of plasma to make surface functionalisation on the substrate surface made this a potential candidate for heavy metal remediation. Surface modification of substrate is currently handling through wet chemical techniques which is tedious as well as require more chemicals and hence causes pollution. Plasma assisted surface modification makes the scenario greener because of the less requirement of chemicals. In the current study, we have fabricated heavy metal binding functionalities on the surface of natural carbon and soy fibers and their derivates through low temperature plasma technique. Since large amounts of soy and carbon fibers are available from nature, the possibility of developing products from them is of interest. Plasma exposure time can be varied to make controlled and uniform surface modification. A solution of lead ion (Pb²⁺), manganese ion (Mn²⁺) or cadmium ion (Cd²⁺) was used as wastewater for studying adsorption efficiencies.