Reclamation of Copper from Electronic Industry Effluent Using Plant Root Adsorbent

Abstract

Copper ion contamination in electronic industrial effluent is a universal issue. The traditional way of copper removal from effluent has some disadvantages like expensive operational costs, and sludge generation after water treatment. Adsorption technique for copper(II) using synthetic adsorbent is one of the efficient ways of water treatment but it is expensive on a commercial scale. Due to this, researchers across the globe are looking after to find an efficient, economical, and readily available biomass-based adsorbent for metal recovery. The present study was intended for the adsorption of copper onto Datura ( ) root powder using batch studies. It was found to be one of the efficient bio adsorbents with 947 mg/g copper adsorption capability. Batch experiments were performed by using 4 g/L of Datura root powder kept in contact with 100 ppm copper containing industrial effluent in 15 min contact time at pH 4. The result indicates 95% copper adsorption on the surface of Datura root powder. Kinetic study indicates that experimental data fit well in pseudo second-order rate reaction and follows Freundlich isotherm indicating multilayer adsorption process. FT-IR result indicates involvement of aromatic group (Phosphates) of Datura root binding with copper ions. Elution experiments were performed using 10% H SO in 60 min to remove copper from the loaded adsorbent. The high copper adsorption capacity and the regeneration efficiency of Datura root powder suggest its applicability in copper reclamation from electronic industrial effluent.