Modified low cost engineered biochar prepared from neem de-oiled cake for heavy metal sorption

Abstract

In this work, the sorption of nickel, chromium, and copper metal ions from an aqueous solution was tested using low-cost engineered neem de-oiled cake biochar (ENDCB). The characterization of ENDCB was performed by BET and SEM techniques. The potential parameters effects such as adsorbent dosage (1–5 g/L), temperature (25–60 °C), contact time (15–120 min), and metal ion concentration (25–150 mg/L) of copper, chromium, and nickel were performed on the batch mode. The greater removal percentageof copper, nickel, and chromium was noticed at a contact time of 60 min, initial concentration of 100 mg/L, the adsorbent dosage of 5 g/l, and temperature of 30 °C as 93.3%, 85.4%, and 96.6% respectively. Among various regenerating agents, maximum desorption percentage (92.3% copper, 84.23% nickel, and 95.5% chromium) was noticed at 0.8 M H2SO4.The ENDCB showed stability up to 3 cycles.