Removal of copper from aqueous solutions by adsorption using modify Zalacca edulis peel modify

Abstract

The removal of Cu2+ ions by adsorption using biomass derived from Zalacca edulis peel was studied in a batch system.The effects of pH and chemical pre-treatment of the biomass by the use of CaCl2 with different thermal conditions and initialconcentrations were also determined. The results showed that chemical pre-treatment by CaCl2 enhanced the capacity of Cu2+ions biosorption. The equilibrium sorption data of untreated Zalacca edulis peel and Zalacca edulis peel pre-treated withCaCl2 were fitted well by both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms equations. According to the Langmuir equation, the maximumuptake of Cu2+ ions by the use of Zalacca edulis peel pre-treated with CaCl2 was found to be 27.03 mg g-1 at pH 5. Therate of adsorption was found to conform to pseudo-second order kinetics with good correlation. The binding between heavymetal Cu2+ ions and chemically pre-treated biosorbent was confirmed by the use of scanning electron microscope combinedwith energy dispersive X-ray analysis and electron probe microanalyser.

Keywords

• biosorption
• Cu2+ ions
• chemical pre-treatment
• fruit peel