Removal of Heavy Metal from Wastewater using Water Chestnut Shell as an Adsorbent

Abstract

The contamination of water resources as a result of industrial activity is on the rise and is a global concern. The heavy metals found in wastewater are long lasting and non-biodegradable. Contamination with heavy metals over acceptable limits could result in major health problems. Chemical precipitation, chemical oxidation, ion exchange, membrane separation, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis, adsorption, and other technologies are used to lessen the influence of heavy metals on water bodies. Some procedures are extremely costly, energy-intensive, and frequently result in the production of harmful by-products. The use of adsorption as a cost-effective approach for removing heavy metals from industrial wastewater has been examined. The usage of Trapa bispinosa peels/shell as a low-cost adsorbent for wastewater treatment is discussed in this paper. Chemical activation was used to make activated carbons from Trapa bispinosa peels and shells. Activated carbons made from a combination of Trapa bispinosa peels/shells and Phosphoric acid with varying impregnation ratios. The results revealed that the activating temperature for the production of Trapa bispinosa-derived activated carbon is 500℃ (AC). CHNS, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were used to analyze the activated carbons.