Remediation of Emerging Heavy Metals from Water Using Natural Adsorbent: Adsorption Performance and Mechanistic Insights

Mehak Nawaz Khan, Hidayat Ullah, Sundas Naeem, Jalal Uddin, Yasir Hamid, Waqar Ahmad and Jia Ding
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Mehak Nawaz Khan: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Special Steel, School of Materials Science and Engineering, International Joint Laboratory of Catalytic Chemistry, College of Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
Hidayat Ullah: Institute of Chemical Sciences, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan 29220, Pakistan
Sundas Naeem: Institute of Chemical Sciences, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan 29220, Pakistan
Jalal Uddin: Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha 62529, Saudi Arabia
Yasir Hamid: Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecology Health, College of Environmental and Resources Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Waqar Ahmad: Department of Computer Science, Federal Urdu University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Jia Ding: School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2006, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-17

Abstract: The presence of potentially toxic metals in water causes a strong impact on environment and human health. In this study, activated biochar was produced by using chemical oxidation method from wheat straw as natural adsorbent and was employed for heavy metals competitive remediation. The morphology, structure, and chemical properties of biochar before and after adsorption were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM and EDX mapping techniques. The competitive adsorption efficiency of adsorbent for divalent cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) from contaminated water was investigated by using wide range of several initial metal concentration, contact time and pH. Maximum adsorption of Cd(II) and Pb(II) was found in the pH range of 6–8. The adsorption capacity for Cd(II) and Pb(II) was 8.85 and 9.03 mg/g, respectively. Thermodynamics parameters and kinetic models were applied to adsorption data. The isotherm data followed Langmuir model, corresponding to monolayer adsorption of the two ions in the contaminated water. The kinetic data followed the pseudo 2nd order kinetics model, which authenticates the chemisorption nature. The thermodynamic study indicated that Cd adsorption is a spontaneous exothermic process while Pb adsorption is an endothermic process. Mineral precipitation, surface complexation, and cation-π interactions are the major remediation strategies for Cd(II) and Pb(II).

Keywords: wastewater treatment; emerging contaminants; environmental remediation; adsorption; heavy metals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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