Heavy Metal Removal Efficiency of Paper Mulberry Biochar and Commercially Available Silica Powder from Simulated Industrial Wastewater

Paper mulberry bio-char produced was characterized and evaluated for heavy metals removal fromsimulated industrial wastewater in compare to silica powder. The batch adsorption study was conductedunder different conditions like, the effects of solution pH, contact time and temperature. The paper mulberrybio-char (PMB) was more effective and exhibited a higher adsorption potential for cadmium, copper, chromium,lead and zinc than commercially available silica powder. Experiments conducted with an initial metalconcentration of 50 mg/l at pH 2, 4, 8, 12. Maximum removal of cadmium, copper, chromium, lead and zinc byPMB was higher than silica powder. Contact time of 2, 3, 4 h showed maximum removal of cadmium, copper,chromium, lead and zinc removal for PMB and was found higher than that of silica powder. The thermodynamicparameters such as G°, H° and S° were calculated for predicting the nature of sorption. The resultsshowed that plant-residue bio-char can act as effective alternative sorbent instead of silica powder for theremoval of heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater.

Keywords:

Paper mulberry , Bio-char , Wastewater , Heavy metals , Voltammeter