Quantitative analysis of Cu and Co adsorbed on fish bones via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Abstract

In the present work, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been applied for qualitative and quantitative analysis of heavy metals adsorbed by fish bones. Fish bones were used as a natural and low cost heavy metal sorbent (mainly Cu and Co) from synthetic wastewater. The removal efficiency of the adsorbent was studied as a function of initial metal concentration and pH value. Optimal experimental conditions were evaluated for improving the sensitivity of LIBS technique through parametric dependence studies. Furthermore, calibration curves were constructed based on X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis technique, whereas, the limits of detection (LOD) for Cu and Co were calculated. The results were validated by comparing LIBS data with those obtained by XRF spectrometry. The results of the two techniques are strongly correlated which verified the feasibility of using LIBS to detect traces of heavy metals adsorbed from wastewater by fish bones. This study reflects the potential of using LIBS in environmental applications.