Removal of Zinc and Copper from Aqueous Solution by Using Modified Sugarcane Bagasse as a Low-Cost Adsorbent

Rapid industrialization, urbanization and population growing have resulted in air, water and land pollution. Heavy metals are a pollutant that reflects a main threat to the environment, the presence of metallic non-biodegradable elements affect biota and the ecosystem. Series of batch experimental studies were carried out by changing the solution pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage and initial concentration from aqueous solution using raw sugarcane bagasse and modified sugarcane bagasse with H2SO4 to eliminate copper and zinc. The experimental result shows that the % removal of copper and zinc were highest at the following optimized conditions: pH 8.0,6.0; contact time 120 min,60 min and bio sorbent dosage of 0.6 g, 1.0 g respectively. The biosorption capacities and rates of copper and zinc ions onto raw sugarcane bagasse and modified sugarcane bagasse were evaluated. Biosorption isothermal data well interpreted by the Langmuir model followed by Freundlich model with maximum adsorption capacity of 25 mg/g and 19 mg/g for copper ions, as for zinc the maximum adsorption capacity found to be 9.23 mg/g and 12.25 mg/g by utilize the modified and raw bagasse adsorbent respectively. In Freundlich isotherm model, adsorption intensity found to be 1.8 and 1.5 for copper, 2.5 and 2.2 for zinc. Freundlich isotherms constant (Kf) found to be 1.75 and 0.65 for copper and 1.69 and 1.17 for zinc by usage of modified and raw bagasse adsorbents