Abstract
Abstract The surface modified Strychnos potatorum seeds (SMSP), an agricultural waste has been developed into an effective adsorbent for the removal of Zn(II) ions from aqueous environment. The Freundlich model provided a better fit with the experimental data than the Langmuir model as revealed by a high coefficient of determination values and low error values. The kinetics data fitted well into the pseudo-second order model with the coefficient of determination values greater than 0.99. The influence of particle diffusion and film diffusion in the adsorption process was tested by fitting the experimental data with intraparticle diffusion, Boyd kinetic and Shrinking core models. Desorption experiments were conducted to explore the feasibility of regenerating the spent adsorbent and the adsorbed Zn(II) ions from spent SMSP was desorbed using 0.3 M HCl with the efficiency of 93.58%. The results of the present study indicates that the SMSP can be successfully employed for the removal of Zn(II) ions from aqueous environment.
Highlights
Heavy metals such as lead, copper, cadmium, zinc, nickel, etc., are the most important pollutants throughout the world and many of them are toxic even at very low concentration
The adsorption experimental investigation concluded that the surface modified Strychnos potatorum seeds (SMSP) could be used as a adsorbent for the removal of Zn(II) ions from aqueous environment
The adsorption kinetics revealed that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second order kinetic model
Summary
Heavy metals such as lead, copper, cadmium, zinc, nickel, etc., are the most important pollutants throughout the world and many of them are toxic even at very low concentration. Most of them require substantial financial input initially, and their use is restricted because of the operational cost overriding the importance of water pollution control. These methods are either expensive or inefficient, when heavy metals exist in low concentrations[2]. Efforts have been directed towards the development of alternative adsorbents which are efficient and cheap They can be prepared from a wide variety of raw materials, which are abundant and possess high organic (carbon) content, low inorganic content and can be activated. Some of the low cost materials reported for the removal of zinc ions from the aqueous media are given as: cashew nut shell, maize husk (EDTA modified), sulphuric acid treated cashew nut shell, activated carbon from bagasse, xanthate modified magnetic chitosan, orange peel, rice bran, peat, coir, barely straw, Azadirachta indica bark, bagasse fly ash, physic seed hull, lignin, olive mill residue, banana peel, cork biomass, lignocellulosic substrate, etc
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