Decontamination of cadmium(II) from synthetic wastewater onto shea fruit shell biomass

Shea fruit shells being an agricultural waste material was utilized to test its novelty as an inexpensive biosorbent for the elimination of Cd(II) from synthetic wastewater using the batch method. A batch study was employed to probe the impact of pH of the solution, contact time, temperature and initial concentration on the depollution of Cd(II) ions using unmodified Shea fruit shells biomass. The decontamination of Cd(II) by the unmodified Shea fruit shells biomass was found to be dependent on these adsorption parameters. The equilibrium data best represented Freundlich isotherm by a correlation coefficient (R-2) of 0.9691. The kinetic models analyzed suggest pseudo-second-order (R-2 = 0.9515) as the best fit model signifying that the removal of Cd(II) ions was on account of chemisorption. The positive values of the thermodynamic parameters, Delta H degrees and Delta S degrees reveal endothermic and increase of disorder of the process while the negative charge of Delta G degrees shows spontaneity of the system.

Automated summary

Utilizing unmodified Shea fruit shells as a biosorbent for Cd(II) removal from synthetic wastewater was found to be dependent on parameters such as pH, contact time, temperature, and initial concentration. The adsorption process was best represented by the Freundlich isotherm and was determined to be chemisorption. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that the process was endothermic and spontaneous.