APPLICATION OF ACTIVATED CARBONIZED HIBISCUS FLOWER WASTE IN REMEDIATING CADMIUM AND LEAD CONTAMINANT IN WATER

ABSTRACT

Without clean water for consumption, it is impossible for any living things to survive. With the ever-increasing population, accessing clean pure water has become a challenge. In this study, activated carbon hibiscus flower waste was used as adsorbent in the removal of heavy metal ions (cd²⁺ and pb²⁺) from contaminated water. Batch adsorption experiment was carried out to examine the effect of contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage and initial concentration on the adsorption of cd²⁺ and pb²⁺. The result obtained shows that the percentage removal of cd²⁺ and pb²⁺ from contaminated water were dependent on contact time, pH, adsorbent dosage and initial concentration. The optimal time gotten was 60 mins for cd²⁺ and 75mins for pb²⁺, pH10 for cd²⁺ and pH8 for pb²⁺, 0.05g for dosage and initial concentration of 10ng/l for cd²⁺ and 20ng/l for pb²⁺. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm were utilized to determine the best fit for cd²⁺ and pb²⁺ respectively. Using the results obtained, Langmuir isotherm was suitable for cd²⁺ and pb²⁺ because the regression coefficient was 0.9246 and 0.8388 while, the Freundlich isotherm was also suitable for cd²⁺ and pb²⁺ because the regression coefficient was 0.9123 and 0.9399 respectively. The characterization studies were performed using the FTIR and XRD to determine the functional and the structure of the activated carbonized hibiscus flower waste.