New biosorbents based on the seeds, leaves and husks powder of Moringa oleifera for the effective removal of various toxic pollutants

A new hydrogel beads-sponge structure (these new beads combine the properties of the beads with the sponge character) with a super rate of swelling hydrogel in water and wastewater and a large porosity was created during this research. New biosorbents were obtained by modification of three parts of Moringa oleifera (seeds, leaves and husks). Prepared adsorbent beads were characterised by some analytical methods, viz. FT-IR, SEM and SEM-EDX. The effects of operational parameters, such as pH, dose of sorbents, temperature, and others were investigated and compared with those of initial powder. EDX results of M. oleifera (MO) and M. oleifera-gelatin (MO-GEL) had the highest percentage of amino groups. The FT-IR spectra showed the existence of - NH, - OH, - COOH functional groups in the biomass and the modified beads. The maximal adsorption potential was observed at the range of pH value of (56) for all pollutants tested and the pHpzc showed the charge carried by MO and MO-GEL in different pH conditions. Conclusively, the objective of this study was the valorisation of the powder in the form of beads to facilitate its use in sorption processes, and without disturbing or diminishing efficiency. This study showed that the sorbents based on Moringa oleifera in their bead forms were good alternative adsorbent that could be used for recovery of dyes (the sorption capacity reaches up to 175.28 mg CV g(-1) (approximate to 44%) and 493.76 mg BG g(-1) (approximate to 65.8%) for MOS-GEL beads and reaches up to 475.27 mg CV g(-1) (approximate to 63%) and 575.82 mg BG g(-1) (approximate to 83%) for MOL-GEL) and heavy metal from water (47.08 mg Pb g(-1) (approximate to 57% for MOS-GEL), 25.99 mg Pb g(-1) (approximate to 38.41% for MOL-GEL) and 32.25 mg Pb g(-1) (approximate to 24,6% for MOH-GEL)).Y

Automated summary

A new hydrogel beads-sponge structure with a super rate of swelling hydrogel and a large porosity was created by modifying Moringa oleifera. The adsorbent beads were characterised by analytical methods and the effects of operational parameters were investigated. The sorbents based on Moringa oleifera in their bead forms were found to be effective alternatives for dye recovery and heavy metal removal.