Biosorption of Cd (II) and As (III) Ions from Aqueous Solution by Tea Waste Biomass

Suantak Kamsonlian; Chandrajit Balomajumder; Shri Chand; S. Suresh

Suantak Kamsonlian Department of Chemical Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Prayagraj � 211004, India.
Chandrajit Balomajumder Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee � 247667, India.
Shri Chand Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee � 247667, India.
S. Suresh Department of Chemical Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology Bhopal, Bhopal � 462051, India.

Keywords: Tea waste biomass, Cd (II), As (III), biosorption, aqueous solution

Abstract

Biosorption of Cadmium (Cd (II)) and Arsenic (As (III)) ions from aqueous solution by tea waste biomass was examined in a batch experimental setup. The effects of pH and temperature on the biosorption were studied in this work. The optimum pH values for the maximum efficiency of biosorption of Cd (II) and As (III) ions were found to be 5.5 and 7.5, respectively. The adsorption process was endothermic in nature and spontaneous. Further, about 95% and 84.5% removal of Cd (II) and As (III) ions was obtained at 200 mg/l of adsorbate and 6 g/l and 7 g/l of adsorbent dosage, respectively. The present study showed that tea waste biomass can serve as a good and cheap substitute for conventional carbon based adsorbents for removal of metal ions from industrial wastewater.