Study of banana/cotton blended nonwoven fabric for lead and zinc adsorption

Environmental pollution is one of the significant problems in many densely populated areas worldwide due to toxic heavy metals. The industrial and domestic wastes accountable for numerous damages to the surrounding adversely affect the health of the human population. Therefore, it is essential to eradicate these metals from industrial discharges before releasing aqueous waste into the environment. On this monitor, a comparative adsorption research of heavy metal ions like lead (pb2+) and zinc (zn2+) on banana fiber was performed to study the performance of uptakes. The banana fiber was extracted from the banana stem by mechanical method and then softening fiber using alkali (NaOH) treatment. The needle–punched fabrics were made from parallel laid webs. Then batch adsorption experiments had been completed at one-of-a-kind preliminary heavy metal ion concentration (500, 700 mg/L), at constant temperatures (298.15 K), time (30, 60, 90 min), and pH of solutions (4, 7, 9). The effects revealed that the uptake performance of banana fiber substantially changed with pH, adsorbent dosage, and concentration. Batch studies indicated that banana fiber was effective in removing 95.5% of lead and 98% of zinc. The equilibrium time was determined to be 60 min and the optimum pH range was found to be 6.5 to 7.0.