Study of the Use of Banana Peels Powder in Removing some Heavy Metals

Abstract

The ability of banana peel powder to remove lead, copper, and nickel was studied, and it was found that treating the peel powder with HCl acid increased the efficiency of the adsorption process for banana peel powder treated with acid at a concentration of 10%, as the removal percentage reached 45%, 30% and 25% for lead, copper, and nickel, respectively. As for the untreated banana peel powder, the removal percentage was 32%, 21%, and 18%. As for the treatment of banana peel powder with the base as NaOH at a concentration of 10%, it reached 20%, 15%, and 12% for each lead, copper, and nickel, respectively. When banana peel powder was treated with 40% acid, the removal percentage was 68%, 53%, and 44% for lead, copper, and nickel, respectively. The percentage of metal removal increased with increasing pH from 2 to 4, as the percentage of removing at pH 2 reached 41%, 29%, and 25%, and at pH 3 reached 65%, 40%, and 33% to reach the best removal rates at pH 4, which reached 75, 55 and 58% for lead, copper, and nickel respectively. The rates of metal removal then decreased with increasing pH, as the removal rate at pH 5 reached 69%, 46%, and 47%, at pH 6 reached 67%, 50%, and 45%, and at pH 7 reached 40%, 39% and 37% for lead, copper, and nickel, respectively.