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ABSTRACT
The presence of heavy metals in water is a serious worldwide health concern affecting underdeveloped nations. This research aimed to investigate the efficiency of lead removal using coconut coir activated carbon and a novel composite of keratin based activated carbon. Keratin was extracted from chicken feathers using alkaline hydrolysis and the coconut coir was carbonized using a muffle furnace and activated using hydrochloric acid. The composite was made using thermomechanical processing of the powders. Lead solution was prepared by dissolving 1.598g of lead in 1 litre of water. The adsorption process was optimized using response surface methodology and a central composite design varying three parameters; the heavy metal concentration (mg/l), contact time (minutes) and adsorbent dosage (g/l). The keratin extraction process gave a yield of 70%. At optimal values of heavy metal concentration 5.41mg/l, contact time 71.31 minutes, and adsorbent dosage 7.35g/l, coconut coir activated carbon gave an optimal removal efficiency of 97.55% while keratin-based coconut coir-activated carbon composite gave an optimal removal efficiency of 99.26%. Here we show that the novel composite of keratin based activated carbon is just as effective as the coconut coir activated carbon for lead removal.
