Ecofriendly Biosorbents Produced from Cassava Solid Wastes: Sustainable Technology for the Removal of Cd²⁺, Pb²⁺, and Cr^total

Abstract

This research is aimed at investigating the possible use of cassava agroindustry solid wastes in manufacturing adsorbents and their use in removing heavy metals Cd2+, Pb2+, and Crtotal from water. Thus, a pilot study was conducted in two main steps: (1) obtaining and characterizing the adsorbents and (2) laboratory studies focused on the evaluation of critical physicochemical parameters on adsorption, such as pH of the solution containing heavy metals, the effect of adsorbent dose, besides kinetics and equilibrium adsorption and desorption studies. Three adsorbents were studied, cassava barks, bagasse, and their mixture. SEM, FTIR, pHPZC, acid digestion, and chemical composition analysis were employed for adsorbent characterization. The pH of the contaminated solution was evaluated within 4.0 to 7.0, while the adsorbent doses varied from 5.0 to 24.0 g L-1. The adsorption kinetics was evaluated within 5 to 180 minutes and interpreted using pseudofirst- and second-order models. Finally, equilibrium and desorption studies were performed by evaluating adsorbent performance within 5 to 200 mg L-1 of heavy metals, using several nonlinear models for results interpretation. SEM analysis reveals a heterogeneous structure full of cavities. FTIR before and after adsorption reveals gaps related to missing functional groups, suggesting a significant role of alkenes, carboxylic acid, alcohol, anhydride, and ether. pHPZC is found at pH 6.02, 6.04, and 6.26 for adsorbents derived from barks, bagasse, and their mixture. In low concentrations of metals, the higher adsorption capacities were found at pH 7.0 (94.9%) using 16 g L-1 of adsorbent, with the most cost-benefit dose found using 8.0 g L-1. The removal of metals reaches equilibrium within 5-10 minutes of contact time with pseudosecond-order best adjustments to the observed phenomena. The adsorption of metals by a cassava adsorbent is better adjusted to the Freundlich model, with significant and critical information provided by Sips, Redlich-Peterson, Temkin, Liu, and Khan models. Adsorption/desorption studies indicate that cassava adsorbent performs, on average, -10% of the adsorption of metals compared to activated carbon. Nevertheless, factors such as low cost and availability favor the use of such natural materials.

Modified Polymeric Biosorbents from Rumex acetosella for the Removal of Heavy Metals in Wastewater

“…The better removal of the 250 µm fraction was due to the greater contact surface that the biosorbents had during the sorption process, additionally enhanced by the fact that they were treated sequentially with sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide, which caused the removal of hemicellulose and lignin, respectively [ 54 , 55 ]. Similar results were reported by several authors for pretreated biomasses rich in lignocellulosic components [ 41 , 42 , 61 ].…”

“…The determination of the PCZ was carried out to know the pH value from which the metallic cations (As, Cd, Pb and Zn) could be adsorbed. In Figure 3 , it can be verified that pH 4.8 was the neutral charge point of the untreated biomass for both fractions; in the case of solutions with values higher than PCZ, the adsorption of cations would be favored due to the presence of negative charges [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Natural fibers have acid groups on their surface; they completely dissociate above pH 4.0, which would favor the adsorption of different molecules.…”