CHARACTERIZATION AND ADSORPTION STUDY OF CASSAVA PEEL FOR REMOVAL OF COPPER

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate ability of cassava peel to remove Cu(II) in synthetic waste water. The cassava peel was value added by converting to biosorbent for Cu(II) removal. First of all, dried cassava peel was analyzed to characterize the major composition of dried cassava peel. The results of proximate analysis showed that dried cassava peel contained high content of carbohydrate (92.57 %). The dried cassava peel also contained appreciable amounts of moisture (3.85 %), crude protein (2.14 %), fat (1.3 %) and ash (0.14 %). Then, dried cassava peel was treated with 0.3 M of HNO3 prior to adsorption study. Generally, this study investigated the effect of contact time (30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 min), the effect of pH (3, 4, 5, 6 and 7) and initial concentration of Cu(II) (2, 4, 6 and 10 ppm) on Cu(II) removal. The final concentration of Cu(II) was measured by using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (327.4 nm). The biosorption reached equilibrium after 180 minutes of incubation with 84.6 % Cu(II) removal. Ten ppm of initial Cu(II) concentration and 10 g of biosorbent resulted in the highest reduction with 60 % and 79 % Cu(II) removal respectively. The biosorption performance was greater in acidic condition where pH 5 showed highest reduction with 82.6 % of Cu(II) removal. As the conclusion, activated cassava peel was efficiently performed at 180 minutes of incubation, 10 ppm of initial Cu(II) concentration, 10 g of cassava peel and pH of 5 Finding from this study proved that cassava peel can be further used for treatment of industrial wastewater effluent