TITLE:
Bioremediation of Lead(II) from Polluted Wastewaters Employing Sulphuric Acid Treated Maize Tassel Biomass
AUTHORS:
Mambo Moyo, Linda Chikazaza
KEYWORDS:
Maize Tassel; Adsorption; Removal; Wastewater Treatment, Lead(II) Ion
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Analytical Chemistry,
Vol.4 No.12,
December
2,
2013
ABSTRACT: The ability to modify a waste by-product precursor, maize tassel
biomass using sulfuric acid as the activating agent with specific focus on Lead(II)
ion from water has been proposed. The treating of maize tassel using sulphuric
acid is believed to enhance sorption capacity of Lead(II) ions. For this, batch
adsorption mode was adopted for which the effects of initial pH, adsorbent
dosage, contact time and initial concentration were investigated. Consequently,
it was found that the adsorbent capacity depends on pH; since it increases up
to 4.5 and then decreases. The highest percentage of Lead(II) ion removal was
achieved in the adsorbent dosage of 1.2 g and at an initial concentration of 10 mg/L metal ion. In an attempt to
determine the capacity and rate of Lead(II) removal, isotherm and kinetic data
were modeled using appropriate equations. To this end, the adsorption data
fitted best into the Langmuir model with an R2 (0.9997) while kinetically
the Lead(II) adsorption followed the pseudo-second-order model. Furthermore, as a way to address issues related to sustainability, maize tassel is
recommended since the process is considered to be a dual solution for
environmental cleaning. From one side, it represents a better way to dispose
the maize tassel which has no use after fertilization and on the other hand it is an economic source of carbonaceous
materials.