Sol-gel synthesis of composite adsorbent coating from Prosopis juliflora –activated carbon for simultaneous adsorptive removal of Cd2+ and Cr2O72- from wastewater

• Published in: Aqua (London, England) Vol. 73; no. 5; pp. 945 - 968
• Main Authors: Chintokoma, Gilbert Chifundo, Chebude, Yonas, Kassahun, Shimelis Kebede, Demesa, Abayneh Getachew, Koiranen, Tuomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IWA Publishing 01.05.2024
• Subjects: adsorption; composite adsorbent coating; isotherm; kinetics; prosopis juliflora; thermodynamics
• ISSN: 2709-8028; 2709-8036
• DOI: 10.2166/aqua.2024.335

ABSTRACT To overcome the challenges associated with powdered activated carbon (PAC) in water and wastewater treatment, the efficacy of composite adsorbent coating (CAC) synthesized using a simple sol-gel method with Prosopis juliflora-activated carbon for the simultaneous reduction of Cd2+ and Cr2O72− was investigated. The CAC was characterized by FTIR (C-H, C = O, and O-H stretching), pHPZC (6 -6.6), SEM (porous-rough surface), and BET surface area (10.6 m2/g) techniques. Statistical analysis confirmed that pH and contact time significantly (p < 0.0001) affected both metal ions removal, with Cd2+ removal generally exceeding that of Cr2O72− due to better ionic properties. Using the optimized conditions (8.5 pH, 0.25 dosage, 5 mg concentration, 105 minutes contact time and 23.73 °C temperature), the predicted and experimental ion removal efficiencies were 86.86 and 83.98% for Cd2+ and 94.26 and 58.08% for Cr2O72−, respectively. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm was the best-suited model (R2 > 0.99), while the metal ions removal was regulated by the PSO kinetic model (R2 > 0.999). The adsorption process was endothermic and spontaneous, as indicated by thermodynamic values (−ΔG°, +ΔH°, +ΔS°). The study demonstrates CAC's effectiveness as an alternative to PAC, offering significant advantages in removing metal ions from wastewater.