Abstract
Adsorption technique has been known to be a very effective method for treatment of heavy metals polluted wastewater, with the advantages of specific affinity, simple design and being user-friendly. However, the high cost of activated carbon commonly used as the adsorbent makes it necessary to explore the use of cheap cellulosic adsorbents. In this study, the adsorptive property of sugarcane bagasse (SB) and orange mesocarp (OM) was investigated. The cellulosic adsorbents were used for the sorption of lead and zinc ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of varying adsorbent dose, varying contact time and initial metal ion concentration on adsorption process of the metals were studied. The results show that both adsorbents (though waste materials) are viable for removal of metals from wastewater. Moreover, SB had higher sorption capacity for zinc (12.95 for SB and 12.68 for OM) while OM had higher sorption capacity for lead (9.90 for OM and 9.48 for SB) at optimum dosage. The isothermal studies shows that for lead adsorption, experimental data best fitted the Langmuir isotherm for both adsorbents (R2 of 0.9574 for OM and 0.98 for SB) while the data for zinc adsorption best fitted into Freundlich isotherm with SB (R2 of 0.9565)and Langmuir isotherm for OM(R2 of 0.814).
Highlights
The release of heavy metals into our environment as a result of industrial and technological expansion, haphazard rapid urbanization and waste generation from domestic and industrial sources has created a dangerous and negative impact
Some heavy metals are either essential nutrients, or relatively harmless, but can be toxic in larger amounts or certain forms. Other heavy metals such as lead mercury and cadmium are highly poisonous and are dangerous pollutants of freshwater reserves because they are non-biodegradable, highly toxic and carcinogenic in nature (Malik, 2017). The releases of these heavy metals in wastewater possess a significant threat to the environment and public health because of their toxicity, bioaccumulation in the food chain and persistence in nature
This paper presents a preliminary work focused on the use of unmodified cellulosic adsorbents from agricultural waste to remove heavy metals from aqueous solution as a means of exploring the unutilized potentials of these abundantly available, low cost, and biodegradable bioadsorbents with a view to create wealth from waste
Summary
The release of heavy metals into our environment as a result of industrial and technological expansion, haphazard rapid urbanization and waste generation from domestic and industrial sources has created a dangerous and negative impact. Adsorption has been considered as a user-friendly, effective purification and separation method for the removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater with the advantages of specific affinity, low cost and simple design. This paper presents a preliminary work focused on the use of unmodified cellulosic adsorbents from agricultural waste to remove heavy metals from aqueous solution as a means of exploring the unutilized potentials of these abundantly available, low cost, and biodegradable bioadsorbents with a view to create wealth from waste.
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