Evaluating the Potential Effectiveness of Moringa oleifera Seeds Biomass as an Adsorbent in the Removal of Copper (Cu) in Water

Abstract

This study was based on the evaluation of the potential effectiveness of Moringa oleifera seeds biomass as a biosorbent in the removal of copper (Cu) in water which was justified by the level of toxicity, environmental unfriendliness and costly nature of chemical coagulants presently used. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis was used to identify the Moringa oleifera seeds biomass functional groups present in the adsorption of metal ions and found to be the carboxylic acid and amine functional groups (-COOH and -NH). The effects of contact time, adsorbent dosage, metal ion concentration and pH were studied. The maximum adsorption capacity at pH 5, room temperature and 0.8 g dosage was 70% for Cu(II). The adsorption data fitted better to the Langmuir than the Freundlich models as the sorption capacity (qm) of Moringa oleifera seeds biomass for Cu(II) was 3.64 mg/g. The separation factor (RL) was within the range of 0 and 1 which showed that the Cu(II) biosorption processes were favourable for Moringa oleifera biosorbent. The results showed that Moringa oleifera seed biomass is an effective adsorbent in the removal of the studied heavy metals in water. The effective pH for the Cu(II) removal was 5.0 as equilibrium was achieved practically in 35 min. The quantitative analysis of defatted Moringa oleifera should be studied in order to have a fair mixing ratio between Moringa oleifera seeds biomass and the adsorbate. There is also the ardent need to work on environmentally friendly disposal of adsorbent after saturation of adsorbent by analyte to avoid secondary pollution.