Potential Malaysia agricultural waste materials for the biosorption of cadmium(II) from aqueous solution

• Published in: Clean technologies and environmental policy Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 273 - 280
• Main Authors: Foo, L. P. Y., Tee, C. Z., Raimy, N. R., Hassell, D. G., Lee, L. Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.04.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adsorption; Agricultural pollution; Agricultural wastes; Ananas comosus; Aqueous solutions; Cadmium; Cleaning; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Economics; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Environmental impact; Environmental policy; Experimental data; Fourier transforms; Heavy metals; Industrial and Production Engineering; Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering; Isotherms; Membrane separation; Original Paper; Parkia; Psidium guajava; Sorption; Spectrum analysis; Sustainable Development; Uptakes; Waste disposal; Waste materials; Water treatment; Malaysia; Isotherm; Cadmium; Biosorbent; Adsorption; Agricultural wastes
• ISSN: 1618-954X; 1618-9558
• DOI: 10.1007/s10098-011-0398-5

Biosorption of cadmium(II) ions (Cd 2+ ) onto Ananas comosus (AC) peel, Parkia speciosa (PS) pods and Psidium guajava (PG) peel were investigated in this study. Batch sorption experiments were performed by investigating the effect of initial pH. It was found that Cd 2+ uptake was highly dependent on the initial pH and Cd 2+ removal efficiency was highest for PG peel, followed by AC peel and PS pods. Biosorption experiments were carried out using different initial Cd 2+ concentration and the experimental data obtained was fitted to both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The experimental data was found to best fit the Langmuir isotherm, and adsorption capacities of 18.21 mg/g (AC peel), 25.64 mg/g (PS pods) and 39.68 mg/g (PG peel) were obtained. Comparison with published adsorption capacities for other low-cost biosorbents indicates that PS pods and PG peel have potential as low-cost biosorbent materials for the removal of Cd 2+ from aqueous solution.