Mehran Alizadeh - Faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Seyed Jamaleddin Peighambardoust - Faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Rauf Foroutan - Faculty of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
Hamidreza Azimi - Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz,Iran

One of the main issues in environmental management is the removal of heavy metal ions from the effluent, which was the aim of this study. For this purpose, hydrolyzed Luffa carbon (HLC) and Luffa activated carbon (LAC) were prepared through two different methods from Luffa Cylindrica biopolymer and used as a potential adsorbent to remove lead (II) heavy metal ions from aqueous solution. FT-IR analysis was used to characterize the prepared adsorbents, and the results showed that presence of abundant functional groups such as O-H and C-S strongly affect the heavy metal ion adsorption. The effect of contact time and kinetic studies was investigated at the initial pH of ۶ and in the batch system. The results indicated that the maximum removal rate of ۹۸% and ۹۵% for HLC and ACL occurs in ۶۰ and ۸۰ minutes, respectively. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model was well fitted with the experimental data, indicating that chemical bonds are established between the pollutant ions and adsorbent surface. Kinetic studies also revealed that HLC was more inclined to adsorb heavy metal ions compared to ACL.

adsorption, heavy metal, kinetic behavior, activated carbon, Luffa Cylindrica