Removal of Dyes and Iron Using Eco-Friendly Adsorbents

This paper examines the efficiency of lemon peel adsorbents for removal of dyes, and cassava peel biochar for removal of iron from synthetic wastewater under laboratory conditions. These are the eco-friendly and economical adsorbents. Experiments were conducted to find out the effects of initial concentration and pH. The biochar was prepared by pyrolysis of cassava peel at 5000 C for 4 h. The removal of total iron was found to be dependent on adsorbate initial concentration and pH. Percentage removal increased with increase in initial concentration of adsorbate. Optimum pH for removal was found to be 5. Optimum removal efficiency of 89.84% by cassava peel biochar on iron adsorption was obtained from the batch study. The removal efficiency of dyes was found to be dependent on pH for lemon peel adsorbent. The optimum pH was obtained to be 2 and 4 for Acid Violet 17 and Remazol Brilliant Blue R respectively. The optimum initial dye concentration was 40 mg/L. The efficiency of dye removal increased with the increase in initial dye concentrations, and then decreased after the optimum value. An optimum Iron removal efficiency of 89.84% by cassava peel biochar was obtained from the batch study, but decreased in column studies (73.09%).