Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (Dec 2009)
ADSORPTION OF Pb2+ IONS FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS ONTO BAEL TREE LEAF POWDER: ISOTHERMS, KINETICS AND THERMODYNAMICS STUDY
Abstract
In this study, bael tree (BT) leaf powder was used as an adsorbent for removal of Pb2+ ions from aqueous solutions through batch equilibrium technique. The influence of pH, equilibrium time, temperature, adsorbent dosage and initial concentration of metal ions on adsorbed amount of metals ions were investigated. Studies showed that the pH of aqueous solutions affected Pb2+ ions removal as a result of removal efficiency increased with increasing solution pH. The experimental isotherm data were analyzed using the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich equations. The monolayer adsorption capacity is 4.065 mg/g with the correlation coefficient of 0.993. The experiments showed that highest removal rate was 84.93% at solution pH 5, contact time 60 min and initial concentration of 50 mg/L. Thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy have also been evaluated and it has been found that the sorption process was feasible, spontaneous and exothermic in nature. Three simplified kinetic models including a pseudo-first-order equation, pseudo-second-order equation and intraparticle diffusion equation were selected to follow the adsorption process. Kinetic parameters, rate constants, equilibrium sorption capacities and related correlation coefficients, for each kinetic model were calculated and discussed. It was shown that the adsorption of Pb2+ ions could be described by the pseudo-second order equation, suggesting that the adsorption process is presumable a chemisorption.
