The application of silica-cellulose material as heavy metal adsorbent on laboratory wastewater

Environmental pollution is a complex problem because waste is generated in all areas of life. If not handled properly, laboratory waste can pollute and endanger the environment. Laboratory waste containing heavy metals such as Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel, and Zinc is hazardous if it pollutes the environment. An easy and inexpensive method of treating heavy metal waste is adsorption. This research applies silica-cellulose material as heavy metal adsorbent in laboratory waste. Variations in contact time were used to measure the adsorbent capacity and adsorbent effectiveness on heavy metals Cadmium, Chromium, Nickel, and Zinc. The results showed that the contact time affected the adsorption capacity and the adsorption effectiveness of silica-cellulose on heavy metal content in laboratory waste. For Cd and Zn metals, the highest adsorption capacity at the contact time of 1 h with adsorption effectiveness values above 90%. Whereas for Cr and Ni metals, the highest adsorption capacity was at the contact time of 3 h with different values of adsorption effectiveness. For Cr metal, almost entirely can be absorbed well, while Ni metal is only half of the total metal can be absorbed.