Adsorption of Cu(II) by low cost adsorbents and the cost analysis

Abstract

Abstract The present research is investigated on the adsorption potential of sugarcane bagasse (SG), acid modified sugarcane bagasse (ASG), base modified sugarcane bagasse (BSG) and activated carbon (AC) as adsorbents for the removal of Cu(II) from synthetic effluent and industrial wastewater in a batch mode process. The surface morphology and surface functionality of the adsorbents were identified by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. The influences of the effective parameters including initial Cu(II) ion concentration, pH and adsorbent mass were optimized by UV–Vis spectroscopy. The Cu(II) removal efficiency from synthetic effluent using AC, SG, ASG and BSG was observed as 98.5%, 88.9%, 96.9% and 94.8%, respectively at equilibrium for adsorbent dose 5 g/L, initial Cu(II) concentration 10 mg/L and pH 5. The Cu(II) removal efficiency using the industrial wastewater was obtained as 83.45%, 62.53%, 81.40% and 71.77% for AC, SG, ASG and BSG, respectively at adsorbent dose 5 g/L, initial Cu(II) concentration 52.4 mg/L and pH 1.25–1.31. It was determined that the Cu(II) removal efficiency of ASG from synthetic effluent as well as industrial wastewater is comparable with that of AC. The cost analysis has shown that AC is very costly as compared to the other adsorbents used for the studies.