Adsorption of Pb(II) onto KCC-1 from aqueous solution: Isotherm and kinetic study

Abstract

In this study, the removal of Pb(II) from aqueous solution using KCC-1 was investigated. BET and TEM revealed the favourable structure of KCC-1 which consists of fibrous morphology and high surface area (298.87 m2/g). Batch adsorption experiment were performed to study the effects of contact time (40 – 160 min), adsorbent dosage (0.5 – 5g/L), initial concentration (50 – 400 mg/L) and pH (2 – 8) on the removal of Pb(II). The optimum condition was achieved at contact time of 80 min, adsorbent dosage of 4 g/L, initial concentration of 200 mg/L and pH of 6, with maximum removal of Pb(II) was 80.5%. The experimental data were analysed using Langmuir (Type 1, Type 2, Type 3 and Type 4), Freundlich, Temkin, and Dubinin-Redushkevich isotherm models, and were found to follow Langmuir isotherm model with maximum adsorption capacity of 38.76 mg/g and high correlation coefficient (R2 = 0.99), implying that the ongoing process is homogeneous in nature. Pseudo-first-order, Pseudo-second-order, Intra-particle diffusion and Elovich kinetic models were tested with the experimental data, and Pseudo-second order kinetic model was the best for the adsorption of Pb(II) onto KCC-1, indicating that the adsorption process most likely be controlled by the chemisorption process and the rate of reaction is directly proportional to the number of active sites on the surface of adsorbent. The results obtained from this study revealed that KCC-1 has high potential for the adsorption adsorption of Pb(II) from aqueous solution.