Application of biosorbents for the adsorption of cadmium in water

Abstract

Development of affordable, eco-friendly and sustainable water remediation technologies remain areas of desired research breakthrough. The use of sorbents derived from agricultural residues meet the criteria for low cost, value addition and sustainable technology. It is demonstrated in this article that biosorbents, including biochar (from pin chips (PC) and paper sludge (PS)), coconut lignin (CL), nanocellulose (CNC) and lignin-nanocellulose composite (LNC) derived from coconut husks are effective sorbents for removal of cadmium from contaminated water. The
performances of the biosorbents were heterogeneous, with biochar from paper sludge (PS) having the highest adsorption capacity. The surface morphology and chemistry were found to critically determine biosorbents performance, with their characteristics evaluated by scanning electron microscope(SEM) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). An inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) was used to determine the cadmium content in solution after sorbents adsorption.