Abstract: Sugarcane bagasse, a fibrous residue from Sugar mills, is not easily biodegradable posing disposal challenges. Given its abundance in the sugar producing regions of Kenya, there is continued need to find other alternative uses. The objective of this study was to investigate the potential use of sugarcane bagasse-based adsorbents for removing Cd2+ and Pb2+ from water. Four bagasse-based adsorbents namely activated bagasse (AB), non-activated bagasse (NAB), its activated charcoal (AC) and ash were prepared and used in batch experiments at different temperatures, pH, contact times, initial concentrations, adsorbent doses and agitation speeds. Adsorption data obtained was fitted against Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models. It was found that the adsorption data for Pb2+on ash, non-activated bagasse......
Keywords: Adsorption, Sugarcane bagasse, Langmuir, Freundlich isotherm, water remediation
[1]. Aigbodion, V. S. (2008). Potential of using bagasse ash particle in metal matrix composite, PhD. Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Samaru, Zaria, Nigeria.
[2]. Al-Riyami, H.H., Jahan, S., and Dwivedi, P. B., (2014). Treatment of battery waste water using meranti wood sawdust as adsorbent. International Conference on Advances in Agricultural, Biological & Environmental Sciences, Oct 15-16, Dubai (UAE).
[3]. Adebowale, K. O., Emmanuel, I. U. and Bamidele, I. O. (2008). Kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of the adsorption of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions on tripolyphosphate-modified kaolinite clay. Chemical Engineering Journal, 136: 99–107.
[4]. Appel, C. and Lena, M. (2002). Concentration, pH, and surface charge effects on cadmium and lead sorption in three tropical soils. Journal of Environmental Quality. 31:581–589.
[5]. Argun, M., Emin, Sukru, D., Celalettin O., Mustafa, K. (2007). Heavy metal adsorption by modified oak sawdust: Thermodynamics and kinetics. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 141: 77–85.
