Optimal conditions for adsorption of zinc from industrial wastewater using groundnut husk ash

Zinc is a toxic metal ion and is of importance in water and wastewater because it causes dizziness as well as lethargy when ingested by man. In the current study, the groundnut husk ash was investigated as a potential adsorbent for adsorption of zinc(II) ions from industrial wastewater. Groundnut husk ash was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and proximate analysis to identify the presence of the functional groups, surface morphology and the carbon content in the adsorbent respectively. To optimize the process parameters affecting the percentage removal of zinc(II) onto groundnut husk ash, the central composite design was used. The result of the optimization study showed an optimal percentage removal of 80.00%, with the optimal conditions of 1400 μm, 100 min, 25 °C, 40 mg/l and 20 mg for particle size, contact time, temperature, initial zinc concentration and adsorbent dosage respectively. The equilibrium data showed a better fit for Langmuir isotherm, when compared to Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms, with R 2 of 0.965. The adsorption kinetics was best described by pseudo-second-order kinetics with R 2 of 0.987. The thermodynamic study, on the other hand, showed a negative value of enthalpy change(∆ H = − 27.021), indicating an exothermic as well as a spontaneous reaction, with the degree of spontaneity of the reaction ranging from − 55.487 ≤ ∆ G ≤ − 56.427, which showed a corresponding increase in Gibb’s free energy (∆ G ) with an increase in temperature.