Adsorption of Pb(II) on Mentha piperita carbon (MTC) in single and quaternary systems

In the present study mentha treated carbon (MTC) has been utilized as a novel adsorbent for the removal of Pb(II) in single and quaternary systems from aqueous solution. The effects of various parameters like pH, contact time and ionic strength have been studied. The adsorbent was characterized by FTIR in order to find the functional groups present on the adsorbent. The equilibrium was attained in 180 min. The maximum adsorption of Pb(II) was observed at pH 6. The adsorption isotherm studies show that data are fitted well with Freundlich and Temkin isotherms model. The kinetics data show that boundary layer diffusion is the rate controlling step for the adsorption process and it is dominant when Pb(II) ion concentration is higher. The adsorption of Pb(II) increases with the increase in the ionic strength of the solution. The positive value of ΔH0 indicates the reaction to be endothermic in nature. The activation energy was found to be 20.60 kJ/mol K indicating physiosorption.