(7f) Batch Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions Using Biomass-Based Activated Carbon Sorbents

Water is the most important and essential component on the earth for vital activities of living beings. Unfortunately, water pollution has become a serious issue in the present century because affecting all living organisms and human health [1]. The selection of efficient removal technologies for heavy metals has been given much attention due to their economic and energy impacts. There are numerous techniques have been applied to remove metal ions from contaminated water and many physico-chemical methods have been proposed for simulated wastewater treatment including sorption, precipitation, membrane, filtration, and ion exchange. Among the available technologies, adsorption is considered an effective purification and separation technique used in industry especially in water and wastewater treatments [2].

Currently extensive research is focused on developing and designing new porous materials for water purification such as adsorption of heavy metal ions. Porous carbon materials, which have received much interest because they are cheap, thermally and chemically stable, and highly pores. In addition, the removal of heavy metal ions using nitrogen-doped porous carbon (N-PC) has been shown to be efficient, recyclable, and selective with extraordinary adsorption capacity. Furthermore, these sorbents exhibit fast adsorption-desorption kinetics and outstanding adsorption capacity, as well as good stability over multiple adsorption-desorption cycles. [3]. Biomass has attracted multidisciplinary study because of its unique physicochemical properties. Biomass-derived porous carbon sorbents have interesting features, including eco-friendly materials, control of sorbent design, unique structure, and ease of handling [4,5].

This study reports for preparation of activated porous carbon sorbents from waste-tea leaves, an environmentally-benign biomass. The sorption performance of the developed activated carbon sorbents for metal ions removal is studied. Theoretical adsorption isotherms have been calculated and compared to the experimental results. The isosteric heat of adsorption is obtained and the results show the endothermic nature of adsorption. The effects of pH and temperature on the adsorption performance are also investigated. The obtained adsorbents show good adsorption capacities for the removal of metal ions from simulated wastewater systems, suggesting excellent potential for metals ions adsorption.

References

[1] I. Ali, Chem. Rev. 2012, 112, 5073−5091.

[2] G. Zhao, J. Li, X. Ren, C. Chen, and X. Wang, Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011, 45, 10454–10462.

[3] L. Ye, H. You, J. Yao, H Su, Desalination 298 (2012) 1–12.

[4] M. Kazmi, A.  R. Saleemi,  N. Feroze,  A. Yaqoob, S. W. Ahmad,  Pol. J. Chem. Tech., 15, 1–6.

[5] A. A. Alhwaige, T. Agag, H. Ishida and S. Qutubuddin, RSC Adv., 2013, 3, 16011–16020.