Biosorption of Toxic Metals (Paperback)

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of black gram husk (BGH) to remove Cr, Pb, As and Co from water. The batch experiments were conducted employing dilute solutions of above metals to achieve the goal. The parameters such as agitation speed, agitation time, biomass dosage, metal concentration, pH and temperature were optimized in order to investigate the maximum removal capacity of biomass for the toxic metals.Results revealed that maximum sorption capacity of BGH for lead (Pb), chromium (Cr) and cobalt (Co) at pH 2 is 99.45%, 99.52% and 98.73% respectively. At pH 4 the removal of arsenic is 92.06%. The optimum metal concentration for lead and arsenic is 100 ppm while for chromium and cobalt is 50 ppm. The biomass dosage at optimum temperature for the lead, chromium, arsenic and cobalt is 0.05 g at 10◦C, 1.5 g at 5 ◦C, 7.0 g at 25 ◦C and 1.0 g at 25 ◦C respectively. The optimum agitation speed and agitation time for the lead, chromium, arsenic and cobalt is 75 rpm at 25 min., 125 rpm at 210 min., 100 rpm at 10 min and 125 rpm at 120.In view of around 99% removal capacity of BGH suggested as a very efficient biosorbent for the removal of toxic metals.