TITLE:
Thermodynamics and Adsorption Efficiencies of Maize Cob and Sawdust for the Remediation of Toxic Metals from Wastewater
AUTHORS:
Muhammad B. Ibrahim
KEYWORDS:
Adsorbate; Adsorbent; Maize Cob; % Removal; Sawdust; Wastewater
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.1 No.2,
November
7,
2013
ABSTRACT: The thermodynamics and
sorption efficiencies for the remediation of Cr, Ni and Cd from their aqueous
solutions using Maize Cob (MC) and Sawdust (SD) in a batch system are reported.
Efficiencies were judged based on parameters such as sorbent weight, initial
adsorbate loading concentration, pH and surface area. Shimadzu AA650 Double Beam
Atomic Absorption/Flame spectrophotometer was employed to study concentration
differences before and after the adsorption process. Parameters such as ΔH, ΔS
and ΔG were determined. On MC, ΔH varied as 1466.59, 1271.21 and 1347.70kJmol-1 for Cr, Ni and Cd respectively. While on SD it varied as -566.85, 256.32 and
888.77kJmol-1respectively for the same order of metal ions. The three ions were found to be
chemisorbed onto MC, while on SD Cr and Ni were physisorbed and Cd remains
chemisorbed as suggested by Freundlich isotherm.