TITLE:
Adsorptive Removal of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solution with Environmental Friendly Material—Exhausted Tea Leaves
AUTHORS:
Bindra Shrestha, Jagjit Kour, Kedar Nath Ghimire
KEYWORDS:
Natural Polymer, Biosorbent, Heavy Metals, Dimethylamine, Exhausted Tea Leaves
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science,
Vol.6 No.4,
October
27,
2016
ABSTRACT: In
this study adsorptive removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) from aqueous solution by
using environmental friendly natural polymers present in exhausted tea leaves has been studied. The biosorbent was modified
with dimethylamine to introduce N-functional groups on the surface of
adsorbent. The modified adsorbent was characterized by elemental analysis, zeta
potential analysis, SEM, DRFTIR, XRD and TG/DTA analysis to conform the
modification. Adsorption capacity of the adsorbent was determined as the
function of pH of the solution, initial concentration of the solution and
contact time. The adsorption experiments were performed using batch
experiments. The maximum adsorption capacities of the adsorbent were found to
be 91.68 and 71.20 mg/g for Pb(II) and Cu(II), respectively. To minimize the
process cost, regeneration of the biosorbent and recovery of metal ions was
explored by desorption study. The results indicate that the adsorbent holds great potential for the sequestration of Pb(II) and
Cu(II) from their aqueous solution. Hence the modified exhausted tea leaves (MTL) have been investigated as a new cost effective and efficient
biosorbent for removal of Pb(II) and Cu(II) from their aqueous solution.