Attenuation of nitrate from aqueous solution using raw and surface modified biosorbents from Adansonia digitata fruit pericarp

Abstract

The prevalence of nitrate in potable water is a serious environmental concern. Several methods for eliminating nitrate from water have been made and implemented. During the course of this research, raw (RADFP) and surface-modified fruit pericarp (SMADFP) biosorbents derived from the Adansonia digitata plant were applied in order to remove nitrate from an aqueous solution. The external features of the biosorbents were studied with the aids of SEM and BET. The FT-IR spectrometer was utilized for identification of the functional groups of the adsorbents. A UV-Vis device was used to quantify the nitrate concentration. The adsorbents under investigation exhibit a heterogeneous pore structure with a considerable number of mesopores, with surface areas of 361.527 and 379.877 m2 per gram for RADFP and SMADFP, respectively. FT-IR spectra revealed the presence of carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl, and halogen groups on the adsorbent. The maximum nitrate removal efficiencies of RADFP and SMADFP were 64.55 and 88.95%, respectively. The maximum adsorption efficiencies are achieved when the pH is 2, the starting concentration is 27.50 mg/L, the contact period is 75.00 min, and the amount of biosorbent is 5.50 g. RADFP and SMADFP have a removal capacity of 12.45 as well as 25.18 mg per gram and adsorption intensity of 3.2300 and 5.4500, respectively. The investigational values for the elimination of nitrate ions concurred well to both Freundlich and Langmuir models with R2 values of 0.99917 and 0.99763 for RADFP and SMADFP, respectively, and pseudo-second-order kinetic model with R2 values of 0.99817 and 0.99947, respectively for RADFP and SMADFP. It can be concluded that SMADFP is a relatively better biosorbent than RADFP, which will be utilizable for the remediation of nitrate from an aqueous solution.