Sorptive Removal of Lead from Aqueous Solution using Bark Powder of Bridelia ferruginea Plant

Abstract

The potentials of Bridelia ferruginea plant bark powder for adsorption of Pb²⁺ under different experimental conditions was investigated. Effects of various parameters such as solution pH, sorbent-sorbate resident time and ratio, concentration and temperature were investigated. The sorption of lead followed pseudo-second-order rate kinetics. Thermodynamic studies revealed that the sorption of lead endothermic and spontaneous, with good affinity toward the sorbent. The isotherm models used were Langmuir and Freundlich. These models were used to analyze the equilibrium data at different temperatures. The Freundlich, and Langmuir models were found to be in good agreement with experimental data with high R². The results show that the sorption capacity increases with an increase in solution temperature from 25 to 65°C. The maximum sorption capacity calculated from Langmuir isotherm was 22.98mg/g at optimum condition of pH 3 and contact time of 30 min.