Phenol removal from aqueous solution by adsorption process: Study of the nanoparticles performance prepared from aloe vera and mesquite (prosopis) leaves

Abstract

This study was performed to measure the potential utilization of agro-waste to generate nanoparticles and evaluate its capability as a low-cost adsorbent for phenol removal. Adsorption studies for phenol removal using aloe vera and mesquite leaves nanoparticles were carried out under various experimental conditions including pH, nanobioadsorbent dosage, phenol concentration, contact time, temperature, and ionic strength in a batch reactor. The adsorption kinetics were applied by pseudo-first order and pseudosecond order models and isotherm technique by Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms models. The results showed that the rate of phenol adsorption increases in both nano-bioadsorbents with an increase in pH up to 7, adsorbent dosage up to 0.08 gL-1, phenol initial concentration up to 32 mgL-1, contact time up to 60 min, and a raise in temperature. The adsorption data followed the Freundlich isotherm model. The kinetic studies indicated that the adsorption of phenol with nano-bioadsorbents was best described by the pseudo-second order kinetics. We found that the nanoparticles prepared from aloe vera and mesquite leaves had a high capability in adsorption of phenol, besides the point that they could be accessed at low cost. These agro-wastes can be used to remove phenol from aqueous environments.