Geopolymers Filters from Calcined Clay and Sugarcane Bagasse Blended With Activated Carbon for Removal of Selected Heavy Metals from Wastewater
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Date
2022
Authors
Mwaura, D. M
Mbuvi, H. M
Maingi, F. M
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Gate
Abstract
The growth of industries and the exploitation of natural resources have led to increase of heavy metals
concentrations in the earth’s surface, atmosphere and water bodies. Heavy metals pose serious environmental and health
effects in the society since they are toxic and non-biodegradable. Removing heavy metals from aqueous solutions especially
wastewater has become an area of study in the recent past. Various methods like ion exchange, reverse osmosis, coagulation
and adsorption among others have been put forth in the removal of heavy metal ions. Geopolymers are zeolite analogues and
there is little information on their use as water filters in literature. Incorporation of geopolymers and activated carbon to form
wastewater filters have not been studied. This study focused on fabricating geopolymer filters derived from calcined clay and
sugarcane bagasse ash incorporated with activated carbon for removal of heavy metals from aqueous media. Characterization
of the Geopolymer, and activated carbon were done using XRF, XRD and FT-IR. Column adsorption using
geopolymer/activated carbon filters was employed with Pb (II) and Cu (II) as the test heavy metal ions while varying
concentration, filter thickness, and pH. Halo broad peaks were observed in the diffraction patterns at angle 2-theta between
20°- 34° in both geopolymer and activated carbon an indication that they were amorphous. Geopolymer: activated carbon
ratio of 2:1, filter thickness of 4cm and pH range of 4-6.5 gave removal percentage of above 85% for both heavy metal ions.
The experimental data fitted best in Freundlich adsorption isotherm with correlation coefficient (R2
) of 0.854, 0.978 for Pb (II)
ions, and Cu (II) respectively. Adsorption capacities of 0.028 mg/g and 0.015mg/g for Pb (II) ions, and Cu (II) ions were
obtained respectively. The study shows that geopolymers/activated carbon filters have a potential of removing heavy metal
ions from aqueous solution and hence can be applied for remediation of wastewater from industrial effluents.
Description
Article
Keywords
Activated carbon, Characterization, Geopolymers Filter, Hheavy metals, Wastewater
Citation
Mwaura, D. M., Mbuvi, H. M., & Maingi, F. M. (2022). Geopolymers Filters from Calcined Clay and Sugarcane Bagasse Blended with Activated Carbon for Removal of Selected Heavy Metals from Wastewater. American Journal of Chemistry, 12(2), 32-39.