A Review of the Journal Article

Equilibrium sorption studies for Cu

2+
and Pb
2+
metal ions on three different biomasses
Uma M. K. Nagpal and Hassan Rezaei
Current World Environment, Vol 5: Issue 2, 243-251
November 20, 2010

by Vince Carlo C. Garcia

INTRODUCTION/ DEVELOPMENT OF THEORY

One of the main sources of water pollution is from industries. The spread of
different industries has contributed to the increase in heavy metal content in water. There
are different tested techniques of treating the effluent from the industries to remove the
heavy metals such as reverse osmosis, oxidation-reduction, membrane filtration and ion-
exchange. However these techniques are costly, therefore a cheaper treatment using low
cost materials is needed.

Previous studies have explored the idea of using biomasses to remove heavy metals
from aqueous solutions for the following reasons: its natural sequestering ability due to the
presence of an excellent sorptive matrix because of the presence of a network of capillary
tubes, the ability to allow ion exchange because of the varied composition of the cell walls,
the benefit of using leaf litter as a cheap adsorbent and the possibility of metal recovery.

Lead and copper are two of the many heavy metals found in the effluent of
industries. Lead is known to cause different illnesses in the nervous, reproductive and
urinary systems. Copper on the other hand is less toxic than lead but in high concentrations
can also be toxic.

The study focuses on the dried leaves of three biomasses Terminalia Catappa,
Dalbergia latifolia, and Ficus benghalensis on their ability to adsorb copper and lead ions in
aqueous solutions. These biomasses are tested for variation with contact time, biomass
concentration and initial ion concentration.

SUMMARY OF METHODOLOGY

The leaves of the three biomasses were dried in an air oven for 24 hours at 333-343
K. These leaves were then grinded and sieved through a 10 mesh sieve before being stored
in glass bottles. The stock solutions for copper and lead were prepared in distilled water
with a concentration of 1000 ppm. The chemical compositions of the three biomasses were
analyzed by AMETEK XRF using the powder method.

The test for variation with contact time was done by getting the residual metal ion
concentration of the supernatant in batches at different time intervals using a Varian
Spectrophotometer. The effect of pH was analyzed by varying the pH of the metal solution
from 2 to 6 with the other factors held constant. The test for the effect of initial biomass
concentration, different amounts of biomass from 0.5 g to 2.0 g was treated 400 mg/L of
metal ion solution keeping all other variables constant. To study the effect of initial metal
ion concentration 0.5 g of biomass was treated with a metal ion concentration ranging from
50 to 800 ppm.

ANALYSIS

The study was about the performance of the three biomasses on the adsorption of
copper and lead ions in aqueous solution. The main asset of the research was its potential
to produce low cost adsorbents of heavy metals by using leaf litter from these biomasses.
However the research group did not have a strong basis or at least cited any study which
suggests the use of these biomasses. In support of their study, the group only cited that
previous research had shown that certain biomasses had the ability to remove certain
heavy metals. It appears that they only picked the biomasses at random hoping to get
positive results.

A strong point in the methodology was the use of investigation of several factors on
the performance of the biomasses in the adsorption process. They tested for the effect of
pH, initial ion concentration and biomass concentration which are important especially for
applications using real wastewater. However even with the number of factors tested, the
validity of the claims of the group are suspicious because it was not clear whether the
group used replicates or used a single trial which with the lack of statistical analysis
suggests the latter. This lack of replicates diminishes the validity of their claims. The
rationale behind the drying of the leaves at 333-343 was not stated, this was expected since
the group did not know the active ingredient found on the leaves which could have been
affected. The use of a10 mesh sieve was not supported by any study that suggests that the
chosen size was optimal for adsorption. The groups did not use the factorial method which
could have generated results which could have been applied to more conditions. The use of
a sample with a mix of copper of lead could have better emulated the real conditions in a
wastewater sample and could have generated more results.

The results of the study showed the absence of replicates which was obvious
because of the absences of error bars in the graphs. The groups also cited references which
are not quite related to their topic such as the equilibrium time of cadmium adsorption by a
biomass not included in their research. The groups also did not do a uniform number of
variations in the quantity of the factors tested in their study as can be seen in the graphs of
the isotherms. Several graphs showed that only three variations were done.

CONCLUSION

The research group claimed that Terminalia Catappa and Dalbergia latifolia can be
used as adsorbents for heavy metals on aqueous solutions. However this claim is not fully
substantiated by their results because of the lack of trials. The group also claimed that the
Langmuir model fits better on the concentration range. This claim is subject to suspicion
because of the lack of variations as can be seen in the generated graphs.


RECOMMENDATIONS

It is recommended that the group find a sound basis for their choice of biomass. The
investigation of the active ingredient of the biomass is important because it will lead to
further research on the compound. The used of replicates is also suggested to fully
substantiate their claims. The inclusion of a sample containing a mix of metal ions is also
recommended to further approximate the conditions in real wastewater and to better
know the adsorption behavior of the biomasses. The preparation of the biomass leaves
should also be supported by studies.

REFERENCES

Nagpal, U. M. K. & Rezaei, H. (2010). Equilibrium sorption studies for Cu
2+
and Pb
2+
metal
ions on three different biomasses. Current World Environment, 5(2), 243-251.