Ball Mill, Humic Acid, and Rock Phosphate-Modified Conocarpus Biochar for Efficient Removal of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Water

Mansour S. Alhawas, Muhammad Imran Rafique, Munir Ahmad (), Mohammad I. Al-Wabel (), Adel R. A. Usman, Hamed Ahmed Al-Swadi and Abdullah S. Al-Farraj
Additional contact information
Mansour S. Alhawas: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Imran Rafique: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Munir Ahmad: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mohammad I. Al-Wabel: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Adel R. A. Usman: Department of Soils and Water, Faculty of Agriculture, Assiut University, Assiut 71526, Egypt
Hamed Ahmed Al-Swadi: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Abdullah S. Al-Farraj: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food & Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-20

Abstract: An increasing trend of anthropogenic activities such as urbanization and industrialization has resulted in induction and accumulation of various kinds of heavy metals in the environment, which ultimately has disturbed the biogeochemical balance. Therefore, the present study was conducted to probe the efficiency of conocarpus ( Conocarpus erectus L.) waste-derived biochar and its modified derivatives for the removal of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) from aqueous solutions. Biochar was produced at 600 °C and modified with humic acid (1:10 w/v ratio) and rock phosphate (0.5:1 w/w ratio). Additionally, produced biochar, as well as humic acid and rock phosphate-modified biochars, were subjected to ball milling separately. Equilibrium and kinetics batch experiments were conducted to investigate heavy metals adsorption on synthesized adsorbents. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics models were employed to explore the adsorption efficiency of produced materials for metals adsorption. Among all the applied adsorbents, ball-milled biochars showed comparatively higher adsorption compared to un-milled biochars. Humic acid and rock phosphate-modified milled biochar showed the highest adsorption capacity for Pb (18.85 mg g −1 ), while rock phosphate-modified milled biochar showed the highest adsorption capacity for Cu and Zn (24.02 mg g −1 and 187.14 mg g −1 ), and humic acid modified biochar adsorbed maximum Cd (30.89 mg g −1 ). Adsorption isotherm study confirmed Freundlich as the best-suited model (R 2 = 0.99), while kinetics adsorption was well described by the pseudo-second-order (R 2 = 0.99). Hence, it was concluded that ball-milled biochar modified with humic acid and rock phosphate could potentially remove heavy metals from contaminated water.

Keywords: biochar modification; ball milling; anthropogenic activities; conocarpus; remediation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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