Chemical modification of pseudo stem of Musa Paradisiaca L. in treating Copper(II) ions from wastewater and isotherm studies

The biosorption of Cu(II) from dilution of wastewater by using chemically modified Pseudo stem with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), calcium chloride (CaCl) and ethanol (EtOH) was investigated. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) method was established to determine the final concentration of Cu(II). The batch experiments showed that biosorption efficiency was dependent on the initial metal ions concentration, contact time and dosage of biosorbent. The optimum pH and temperature for the removal of Cu(II) was 5.9 and 27°C respectively. The maximum adsorption of Cu(II) ions was 79% or 77.17 mg/h for 75mg/l of initial Cu(II) concentration. The optimum time of Cu(II) biosorption was within 60minutes. The results of experiments were analysed using three adsorption isotherm models which are Langmuir, Freundlich and Redlich-Peterson. Thus, the Redlich-Peterson model was the best isotherm to represent the data with R² value of 0.988. Heavy metals in the wastewater are classified as non-biodegradable and can give serious health disorder and environment which can cause anaemia, respiratory effect, bad smell and cancers.