Adsorption Study of Lead(II) from aqueous solution by Modified and Unmodified Chitosan

Abstract

This research work presents a comparative study in the application of chemically modified and unmodified chitosan for the removal of lead(II) from aqueous solution. The effect of pH and initial metal concentration were investigated using batch method. The highest sorption percent removal observed for unmodified chitosan (UC) is 46.35%, while that of modified chitosan (MC) is 80.37%. The initial metal concentration decreased from 71.92% to 42.23% and 44.38 to 33.45% for modified and unmodified chitosan respectively. The adsorption equilibrium data fitted Langmuir model better than Freundlich models. Typical Macro reticular structure with spherical primary particles of about 3um was observed only in the SEM micrograph of modified chitosan. The results from this study revealed that modified chitosan could be used as an effective adsorbent material for the removal of Pb(II) in aqueous solution.