This study was carried out to investigate the efficiency of raw pili shell (RPS) and the surface modified pili shell using EDTA (EMPS) and oxalic acid (OMPS). A comparative study on the adsorption capacity of the adsorbents was performed against lead (Pb2+) from aqueous solution. The adsorbents were characterized by FTIR, which showed higher peak of adsorption bands of carboxylic groups on the acid modified pili shells. Scanning electron microscope orSEM was also used to describe the surface morphology of the adsorbents. The linear form of Langmuir and Freundlich models were applied to represent adsorption data. The calculated equilibrium data of Pb (II) best fitted to Langmuir compare to Freundlich isotherm model with maximum adsorption capacity (qmax) of 27.03 mg/g and 45.45 mg/g using EMPS and OMPS, respectively. Kinetic sorption models were used to determine the adsorption mechanism and the kinetic data of all the adsorbents correlated (R2=1) wellwith the pseudo second order kinetic model. Among the three adsorbents, OMPS shown higher percent removal of lead compared to RPS and EMPS. The large adsorption capacity rate indicated that chemically modified pili shell in present study has great potential to be used as a cost-effective adsorbent for the removal of lead ions from the water.
Application of surface modified sericite to remove anionic dye from an aqueous solution
