Adsorptive Performance of Soy Bran and Mustard Husk Towards Arsenic (V) Ions from Synthetic Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

Recently, there is growing attention on the use of low-cost sorbents in the depollution of contaminated waters. As a consequence, the present work investigates the potential of soy bran and mustard husk as possible sorbent for the removal of arsenic(V) from residual water. Effects of various operating parameters such as: contact time, pH, initial arsenic concentration, pH, sorbent dose, temperature were investigated to determine the removal efficiency of arsenic(V). Thermodynamic parameters that characterize the process indicated that the adsorption is spontaneous and endothermic. The values for the separation factor, R_L were less than one which confirms that the adsorption process was favorable. Equilibrium data fitted well to the Langmuir model with a higher adsorption capacity of soy bran (74.07 mg g^-1) towards arsenic(V) ions than mustard husk (65.79 mg g^-1). It was found that the pseudo-second order kinetic model was the best applicable model to describe the adsorption kinetic data.