Pomegranate husk as an adsorbent in the removal of toxic chromium from wastewater

Abstract

The use of a new sorbent developed from the husk of pomegranate, a famous fruit in Egypt, for the removal of toxic chromium from aqueous solution has been investigated. The batch experiment was conducted to determine the adsorption capacity of the pomegranate husk. The effects of initial metal concentration (25 and 50 mg l−1), pH, contact time, and sorbent concentration (2–6 g l−1) have been studied at room temperature. A strong dependence of the adsorption capacity on pH was observed, the capacity increased as the pH decreased, and the optimum pH value was pH 1.0. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics were studied with different sorbent and metal concentrations. The adsorption process was fast, and equilibrium was reached within 3 h. The maximum removal was 100% for 25 mg l−1 of Cr6+ concentration on 5 g l−1 pomegranate husk concentration, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 10.59 mg g−1. The kinetic data were analysed using various kinetic models—pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion equations—and the equilibrium data were tested using several isotherm models, Langmuir, Freundlich, Tempkin, Dubinin–Radushkevich, and Generalized isotherm equations. The Elovich and pseudo-second-order equations provided the greatest accuracy for the kinetic data, while Langmuir and Generalized isotherm models were the closest fit for the equilibrium data. The activation energy of sorption has also been evaluated as 0.236 and 0.707 kJ mol−1 for 25 and 50 mg l−1 chromium concentration, respectively.