REMOVAL OF Pb (II) FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION WITH ORANGE SUB-PRODUCTS CHEMICALLY MODIFIED AS BIOSORBENT

The effects of chemical modification of orange peel, bagasse, and a mixture of peel and bagasse for lead ion removal from aqueous medium were evaluated. The chemical modification of biomass was carried out with sodium hydroxide and citric acid to introduce carboxylate groups on the surface of the biomass. Infrared spectra confirmed the presence of carboxylate groups at 1735 cm(-1). Adsorption isotherms performed by static adsorption experiments fitted very well to the linear Langmuir and Freundlich models. The experiments were carried out at pH 5 during 500 min of shaking time. Orange modified peel (O-MP) presented the highest adsorption capacity (84.5 mg g(-1)), notably higher than other biosorbents described in the literature. The kinetic studies showed that the process obeyed a pseudo-second-order rate expression, thus indicating a strong interaction between the biosorbent and adsorbate. It was found that the chemical modifications of sorbents promoted an adsorption energetically more spontaneous, as indicated by negative values of Gibbs free energy. On the other hand, desorption studies showed low leaching of lead ions from the biosorbent, thus confirming the strong interaction of lead ions and the biosorbent. The satisfactory maximum adsorption capacity obtained and negligible cost of biosorbent makes the sub-products of orange a reliable natural material for the removal of lead ions from aqueous effluents.