Application of Noug (Guizotia abyssinica cass.) stalk activated carbon for the removal of lead (II) ions from aqueous solutions

Getasew Yirdaw; Awrajaw Dessie; Lakemariam Bogale; Mengesha Genet; Eniyew Tegegne; Yenewa Bewket; Tsegaye Adane Birhan

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30532

Application of Noug (Guizotia abyssinica cass.) stalk activated carbon for the removal of lead (II) ions from aqueous solutions

Heliyon. 2024 May 4;10(9):e30532. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30532. eCollection 2024 May 15.

Authors

Getasew Yirdaw¹, Awrajaw Dessie², Lakemariam Bogale², Mengesha Genet², Eniyew Tegegne¹, Yenewa Bewket¹, Tsegaye Adane Birhan²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Health Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Debre Markos University, Debre Markos, P.O Box 269, Ethiopia.
² Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, P.O Box 196, Ethiopia.

Abstract

Due to the rise of industries worldwide, huge amounts of pollutants including heavy metals are released into the surroundings. Disposal of effluents containing heavy metals in higher concentrations without proper treatment is common in industries; lead is one of them. This study aims to determine and optimize the efficiency of Noug (Guizotia abyssinica Cass.) stalk porous carbon (NSAC) for the elimination of lead (II) from aqueous solutions. For studying the adsorption characteristics of Noug stalk activated carbon (NSAC) an adsorbate of lead (II) ions was used. The interaction and effect of the following parameters on Pb(II) adsorption were investigated using Design Expert version 7.0 software (central composite design) to determine the optimum adsorption condition: pH, initial concentration of Pb(II) ion, adsorbent dose, and contact time. The optimized condition for the elimination of lead (II) using Noug stalk porous carbon (98.77 %) was achieved at pH [4.87], initial concentration of Pb(II) [84.66 mg/L], adsorbent dose [18.43 g/L], and contact time [2.04 h]. The pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Langmuir isotherm model which had a maximum adsorption capacity of 89.25 mg/g, provided the best-fit models for Pb(II) adsorption, with R² values of 0.99 and 0.98, respectively. Efficient elimination of Pb(II) from wastewater can be performed through the use of NSAC. Future research should delve more into column adsorption under continuous wastewater flow.

Keywords: Adsorption; Central composite design; Lead (II); Noug stalk activated carbon.