Adsorptive removal of arsenic(III) ions from industry wastewaters using a weak anion exchanger prepared from banana stem

Abstract

Abstract The performance of an anion exchanger prepared from banana stem (BS), a lignocellulosic residue for the removal of As(III) from aqueous solutions has been evaluated in this study. The adsorbent (BS‐DMAHP) containing dimethylaminohydroxypropyl (DMAHP) functionality was prepared by the reaction of BS with epichlorohydrin and dimethylamine followed by treatment with hydrochloric acid to convert it into the chloride form of the anion exchanger. The adsorbent characterization was done with the surface area analyzer, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and potentiometric titrations. Adsorption equilibrium study was conducted with a concentration range of 10–300 mg/L, for As(III). The Langmuir isotherm model was found to be the best fit model. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 65.11 mg/g. Adsorption has been found to be endothermic and follows second‐order reversible kinetics. The removal efficiency of BS‐DMAHP was also compared with commercially available amine functionalized weak base anion exchanger, Duolite A‐7. Regeneration studies were also conducted to evaluate the reusability of the adsorbent. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012