Biosorptive Removal of Copper (II) ion from Aqueous Solution using Lawsonia Inermis Plant Leaf Biomass

Abstract

The present study investigates the biosorptive removal of Copper (II) ion from aqueous solution using plant leaf biomass under various conditions. Biosorption studies have been carried out to determine the effect of pH, Cu (II) metal concentration, contact time, temperature and biomass dose on the biosorption capacity of Cu (II) ions by the biomass. The process was investigated using concentrations of Cu (II) ions ranging from 10-125 mg/L in equilibrium batch tests for Langmiur and Freundlich isotherm models. The biosorption data was better fitted to Langmuir isotherm model, and the maximum biosorption capacity (q_max) was 6.06 mg/g. The optimum pH for the removal of Cu (II) ions was around pH 5.0 and the removal of Cu (II) ions was 85.6%.The biosorption kinetics followed the pseudo-second order model. FTIR clearly showed that –OH, -CH and C=O group are likely to participate in Cu (II) ion adsorption. The results demonstrated that plant leaf biomass was a economic and eco-friendly biosorbent possessed strong biosorption characteristics for Cu (II) ions.

Keywords: Lawsonia Inermis. Cu (II) removal, Biosorption, Isotherm.