Adsorptive removal of heavy metals and anionic dye from aqueous solution using novel Xanthan gum-Glutathione/ Zeolite bionanocomposite

Abstract

The present work explored the removal of Ni (II) (85%), Pb (II) (93%) and Congo red (80%) from aqueous solution by ecofriendly novel bionanocomposite. Various characterization techniques including SEM with EDX, TEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA and DTG show successful synthesis of bionanocomposite. The experimental results showed that the maximum adsorption was achieved at pH- 2.1, 4, 5 and contact time- 240, 120, 120 min for Congo red, Ni (II) and Pb (II) respectively. The point of zero charge of bionanocomposite is 8.2 revealing basic nature of adsorbent. The pseudo second order and Freundlich isotherm model were the best obeyed models for describing the adsorption process. The thermodynamic studies revealed that the uptake was endothermic and spontaneous. The desorption with regeneration upto fifth cycle was best achieved by H2O for Pb (II) and Ni (II), and NaOH for Congo red. The results exhibit that ion exchange, physical and chemical forces were involved in the adsorption process. Therefore, the present bionanocomposite has been proved to be a promising adsorbent that could be explored for the removal of organic and inorganic pollutants from industrial wastewater.