Ni(II) biosorption by Cassia fistula (Golden Shower) biomass.
Cassia fistula is a fast-growing, medium-sized, deciduous tree which is now widely cultivated worldwide as an ornamental tree for its beautiful showy yellow flowers. Methods are required to reuse fallen leaves, branches, stem bark and pods when they start getting all over lawn. This investigation studies the use of these non-useful parts of C. fistula as naturally occurring biosorbent for the batch removal of Ni(II) in a well stirred system under different experimental conditions. The data showed that the maximum pH (pHmax) for efficient sorption of Ni(II) was 6 at which evaluated biosorbent dosage, biosorbent particle size, initial concentrations of Ni(II) and sorption time were 0.1 g/100 mL, <0.255 mm, up to 200 mg/L and 720 min, respectively. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The Langmuir isotherm model fitted well to data of Ni(II) biosorption by C. fistula biomass as compared to the model of Freundlich. The kinetic studies showed that the sorption rates could be described better by a second order expression than by a more commonly applied Lagergren equation. The magnitude of the Gibbs free energy values indicates spontaneous nature of the sorption process. The sorption ability of C. fistula biomass for Ni(II) removal tends to be in the order: leaves<stem bark<pods bark. One hundred percent Ni(II) removal was achieved when the initial Ni(II) concentration was 25 mg/L. Due to its outstanding Ni(II) uptake capacity, C. fistula biomass proved to be an excellent biomaterial for accumulating Ni(II) from aqueous solutions.
Hanif
Muhammad Asif
MA
Department of Chemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad 38040, Pakistan.
Nadeem
Raziya
R
Bhatti
Haq Nawaz
HN
Ahmad
Najum Rashid
NR
Ansari
Tariq Mehmood
TM
D000327:Adsorption; D002366:Cassia / Q000378:metabolism*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D009532:Nickel / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D010316:Particle Size; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000378:metabolism; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009532:Nickel