Removal of mercury (II) from aqueous solution using bamboo leaf powder: Equilibrium, thermodynamic and kinetic studies

In this work the performances of unmodified bamboo leaf powder (BLP), modified by using anionic surfactant SDS (BLPS) and non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 (BLPT) were evaluated for the removal of hazardous mercury (II) ions from water. BLP were characterized by BET and FTIR analysis. Detailed experimental investigations were carried out to find the effect of contact time, initial pH, adsorbent dose, agitation speed and temperature on the adsorption capabilities of unmodified and modified BLP. Adsorption isotherm, kinetics, thermodynamics and mechanism were also investigated to get insights of the adsorption. Experimental results showed that BLP can be used as an effective adsorbent for the removal of mercury (II) ions from the aqueous solutions. The maximum adsorption capacity was 27.11, 28.1 and 31.05 mg/g for unmodified, Triton X-100 modified and SDS modified BLP, respectively.