Kinetic, Equilibrium and Thermodynamic Studies on Removal of Cu(II) and Pb(II) by Activated Carbon Prepared from Macro-Algae (Kappaphycus alvarezii)

Present study was intended to explore the biosorption of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions in aqueous solution using activated carbon biosynthesized from macro-algae Kappaphycus alvarezii under different experimental parameters. Activated carbon was produced via zinc chloride chemical activation method. The effect of parameters such as pH, temperature over biosorption, amount of adsorbents, initial Cu(II) and Pb(II) aqueous concentration, and contact time were studies. The pH 4.0 for adsorption of Cu(II) and Pb(II), and metal ions uptake contact time of 60 min were considered as optimum. Equilibrium data of biosorption were analyzed by models of Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm at different initial Cu(II) and Pb(II) aqueous solutions concentration. Fruendlich adsorption isotherm model fitted well into biosorption data with a regression value of 0.9986. Thermodynamic parameters such as change in change of enthalpy (ΔHº), change of entropy (ΔSº) and Gibbs free energy (ΔGº) were also determined.