Abstract
This study investigated the effect of ionic strength and background electrolytes on the biosorption of Ni2+ from aqueous solutions by the acorn shell of Quercus crassipes Humb. & Bonpl. (QCS). A NaCl ionic strength of 0.2 mM was established to have no effect on the Ni2+ biosorption and the biosorption capacity of the heavy metal decreased as the ionic strength increased from 2 to 2000 mM. The background electrolytes (KCl, NaNO3, Na2SO4, CaCl2, MgSO4, and MgCl2) had no adverse effects on the biosorption of Ni2+ at a concentration of 0.2 mM. However, at background electrolyte concentrations of 2 and 20 mM, divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2+) had greater negative effects on the biosorption of Ni2+ compared to the monovalent cations (Na+ and K+). Additionally, the SO42− and Cl− anions affected the biosorption of Ni2+. The fractional power, Elovich, and pseudo-second order models represented the kinetic processes of the biosorption of Ni2+ adequately. The results show that QCS can be a promising and low-cost biosorbent for removing Ni2+ ions from aqueous solutions containing various types of impurities with different concentrations.
Highlights
Environmental pollution by toxic heavy metals is one of the most alarming problems of modern society [1,2,3]
The ionic strength of an aqueous solution is an environmental parameter that significantly affects the biosorption of heavy metal ions at the interface between the solid biosorbent and the liquid phase [24]
This study investigated its effect on the kinetics of biosorption of Ni2+ by Quercus crassipes Humb. & Bonpl. (QCS)
Summary
Environmental pollution by toxic heavy metals is one of the most alarming problems of modern society [1,2,3]. Since heavy metals are non-biodegradable and highly toxic, their presence in water resources poses a great risk to the balance of the natural environment and the health of living beings [4,5]. The divalent Ni2+ is one of the most toxic heavy metals found in wastewater discharges owing to various anthropogenic activities, such as the manufacture of metal alloys, stainless steel, super-alloys, accumulators, batteries, electrical and electronic products and components, pigments, paints, coins, and ceramics, mineral processing, steel casting, nickel mining and refining, metallurgy, electroplating, leather tanning, and porcelain enameling [3,6,7].
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