Studies on the effect of pH on the sorption of Al3+ and Cr6+ Ions from aqueous solutions by Almond Tree (Terminalia catappa L.) Biomass

Abstract

Environmental protection requires the use of natural products instead of chems. to minimize pollution. This investigation studies the use of a non-useful plant material as naturally occurring biosorbents for the removal of cationic pollutants in wastewater. The effect of pH on the sorption of Al3+ and Cr6+ ion unto Terminalia catappa biomass was investigated. The exptl. results have been analyzed in terms of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The data showed that the max. pH (pH max) for efficient sorption of Al3+ was 4.0 (85.5 mg/g) and for Cr6+ 2.0 (82.6 mg/g). Evaluation using Langmuir equation gave the monolayer sorption capacity as 1.12 mg/g and 2.67 mg/g at the resp. pH max for Al3+ and Cr6+. The thermodn. assessment of the metal ion - Terminalia catappa L. biomass system indicates the feasibility and spontaneous nature of the process. [on SciFinder(R)]