Biosorption of cadmium and nickel by functionalized husk of Lathyrus sativus

The husk of Lathyrus sativus (HLS) has been functionalized by introducing thio groups with the help of carbon disulphide treatment in alkaline environment. Elemental analysis indicates that sulphur content of the functionalized biomass increases to 3.7% from 0.36% of the pristine biomass suggesting the incorporation of thio group on HLS. A conspicuous change in the surface morphology of the biomass due to functionalization is depicted by SEM images. EDX data support the introduction of sulphur group on the HLS. The involvement of the hydroxyl groups mainly in the functionalization process is demonstrated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic study. The adsorption capacity of the functionalized biomass with respect to cadmium and nickel is observed to increase by about 50% compared to that of pristine one. Similar to the case of unmodified HLS the adsorption process involving the functionalized one obeys Langmuir isotherm model and attains equilibrium in 10 min compared with 60 min in the case of unmodified biomass.