Abstract
Recent studies have shown the potential of food waste materials as low cost adsorbents for the removal of heavy metals and toxic elements from wastewater. However, the adsorption experiments have been performed in heterogeneous conditions, consequently it is difficult to compare the efficiency of the individual adsorbents. In this study, the adsorption capacities of 12 food waste materials were evaluated by comparing the adsorbents’ efficiency for the removal of 23 elements from complex multi-element solutions, maintaining homogeneous experimental conditions. The examined materials resulted to be extremely efficient for the adsorption of many elements from synthetic multi-element solutions as well as from a heavy metal wastewater. The 12 adsorbent surfaces were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and showed different types and amounts of functional groups, which demonstrated to act as adsorption active sites for various elements. By multivariate statistical computations of the obtained data, the 12 food waste materials were grouped in five clusters characterized by different elements’ removal efficiency which resulted to be in correlation with the specific adsorbents’ chemical structures. Banana peel, watermelon peel and grape waste resulted the least selective and the most efficient food waste materials for the removal of most of the elements.
Highlights
Today, excessive release of wastewater rich in heavy metals from industrial activities is a critical environmental problem worldwide [1]
The aim of this study is to evaluate the adsorption capacities of 12 food waste materials, comparing their efficiency for the removal of 23 elements from multi-element solutions, in homogeneous experimental conditions
From first observation, we we cancan suppose that the the most mostporous porous this qualitative first qualitative observation, suppose that thefood foodwaste wastematerials materials with with the surfaces may be able to remove a higher amount of elements from polluted solutions
Summary
Excessive release of wastewater rich in heavy metals from industrial activities is a critical environmental problem worldwide [1]. Many metals and metalloids, which are toxic and carcinogenic, can cause various dysfunctions to plants, animals and humans. Their removal from polluted solutions becomes one of the focuses of environmental remediation. There are several physic-chemical methods to remove elements from wastewater such as adsorption, chemical precipitation, solvent extraction, reverse osmosis, ion exchange and chemical reduction [1,2,3]. Adsorption is recognized as an effective and economic method for the removal of metals and metalloids because it offers high efficiency and flexibility in operation [4].
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