Nickel (II) Biosorption from Aqueous Solution by Unmodified Eucalyptus Myrtaceae Leaves

Abstract

The present work investigated the removal of Ni(II) ions from aqueous solutions onto the surface of Eucalyptus Myrtaceae leaves (EMLs) as a cheap and ecofriendly biomass adsorbent. The plant leaves were used as raw material without any chemical treatments. The parameters impacting Ni(II) adsorption onto EMLs such as contact time, EMLs dose, initial pH, initial Ni(II) concentration and temperature were investigated. Results showed that the removal of Ni(II) cations from aqueous solution are depended on adsorbent dose, time contact, pH and initial ion concentration. The equilibrium data had been fitted very well with Langmuir isotherm (R2=0.9990) and pseudo-second-order model for kinetic studies (R2=0.9773). The adsorbed Ni(II) onto EMLs would initialized in 10 min and then the system approached equilibrium within 70 min. The amount of Ni(II) removal was found dependent upon the adsorbent dose and the pH of the initial solution. The optimum pH required for maximum Ni(II) adsorption was 5.5 with the adsorption efficiency equals to 78.1% and adsorption capacity of 7.59 mg/g.