Studies on the effect of pH on the sorption of Al3+ and Cr6+ Ions from aqueous solutions by Almond Tree (Terminalia catappa L.) Biomass

Abstract

Environmental protection requires the use of natural products instead of chemicals to minimize pollution. This investigation studies the use of a non-useful plant material as naturally occurring biosorbents for the removal of cationic pollutants in wastewater. The effect of pH on the sorption of Al 3+ and Cr 6+ ion unto Terminalia catappa biomass was investigated. The experimental results have been analysed in terms of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The data showed that the maximum pH (pH max) for efficient sorption of Al 3+ was 4.0 (85.5 mg/g) and for Cr 6+ 2.0 (82.6 mg/g). Evaluation using Langmuir equation gave the monolayer sorption capacity as 1.12mg/g and 2.67mg/g as maximum pH for Al 3+ and Cr 6+ respectively. The