Studies on Functionalization of Apple Waste for Heavy Metal Treatment

Abstract

The present investigation is to investigate the potential and effectiveness of two types of biosorbents as cation exchanger, functionalized with carboxylic acid and xanthated groups onto apple waste. Both the adsorbent materials exhibited highly selective behavior for heavy metal treatment and followed Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacity evaluated for iron, cadmium, zinc and lead onto them have shown their potential ability in the treatment of heavy metals from aqueous medium. Dominant sorption mechanisms are revealed to be ionexchange process.Key words: Adsorption; Biopolymer; Ion exchange; Saponification; XanthationDOI: 10.3126/njst.v10i0.2949 Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 10, 2009 Page:135-139