Biosorption of Ni(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II) by Punica gerana-tum from Aqueous Solutions

Abstract

In this paper removal of Ni(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions by leaves of Punica geranatum were investigated. The biosorption was found to be pH dependent and the highest uptake of all the men- tioned metal ions occurred at pH 4. Furthermore, the influence of other parameters such as initial metal ions concentration and contact time of biosorbent and sorbents were evaluated. Equilibrium data fitted very well to Langmuir model for all studied metals. It was also concluded that the Freundlich isotherm cannot be enough appropriate for the equilibrium data of all three metals. Biosorption of Ni(II), Cu(II) and Pb(II), reached equilibrium in 60, 60 and 30 min, respectively. Moreover, the adsorption rate of the metals can be best described by the second order model.