The Adsorption of Cadmium, Nickel, Zinc, Copper and Lead from Wastewater using Tea Fiber Waste

Abstract

The feasibility of tea fiber waste to remove cadmium, nickel, zinc, copper and lead from wastewater was studied in the present research. The tea fiber was treated with ferric oxide and nitric acid solution and the properties like surface area, pore volume and particle size were improved. The surface characteristics of the adsorbent was determined using SEM and FTIR analysis. Isotherm models such as Langmuir, Freundlich, Floiy Huggins, Temkin and Dubinin Radushkevich models were used to investigate the isotherm data in the single solution mode. The data were matching better with the Freundlich model compared to other models. The adsorbent treated with ferric oxide was showing better in comparison with the adsorbent treated with nitric acid mainly because of surface properties. The interaction mechanism in the quinary solution showed synergism for cadmium, zinc and lead and antagonism for nickel and copper.