Batch adsorption techniques were used to study the biosorption of Lead and Nickel from aqueous solutions by Flame of the forest pods. The effects of optimum pH, contact time, metal ion concentration, biosorbent dose, biosorbent particle size and the presence of sodium, calcium and magnesium interfering ions on the sorption were investigated. Experimental results showed that Delonix regia biomass was effective in removing these metals from aqueous solutions as the equilibrium biosorption of both metals was attained within 60 minutes of interaction with 98% of the metals removed within this period. Sorption of these metals was dependent on pH as maximum removal was attained at pH 4 and pH 5 for Lead and Nickel ions respectively. Adsorption experiments showed that the process followed the pseudo second order kinetic model with high r 2 (0.9999) and the equilibrium data fitted well with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The presence of competing ions impacted negatively on the sorption process irrespective of the type used. 27% and 36% of lead (II) were recovered from the spent biosorbents with 1 M HCl and disodium salt of EDTA solutions respectively.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.