Investigation of the Pb(II) adsorption from aqueous solution using biochar derived from ground coffee

Abstract

The adsorption of Pb(II) onto ground coffee-derived biochar from aqueous solution was studied. The prepared biochar was characterised using XRD, BET, FT-IR, and SEM. Effects of pH, adsorption time and initial concentration of Pb(II) were studied. The obtained results show that at an initial Pb(II) concentration of 48 mg/L and pH 5.5 (307 K), the adsorption reached equilibrium after 90 min with a removal efficiency of approximately 52%. The experimental data fitted best the Redlich-Peterson isotherm model, followed by the Langmuir, Temkin and Freundlich models, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated from the Langmuir model at 307K was 13.04 mg/g. These results indicate that ground coffee is a friendly, inexpensive and potential raw material for the preparation of biochar used as a bio-adsorbent to remove Pb(II) from effluent.