Carbonized green mussel shell as heavy metal removal

Abstract

Large amount of mollusc shell are usually disposed off and can a create nuisance due to odor and its quantity. Therefore this study aims explored the adsorption capacity of green mussel (Perna viridis) shell for cadmium, chromium and lead from aqueous solutions.. The adsorbent has prepared from powdered green mussel shell in the form of carbonized adsorbents shells at 600°C. The carbonization process was conducted for four hours and allowed to cool at room. Characterization of pH, bulk density, moisture content and ash content was also conducted. The effect of various operational parameters such as concentration, pH, temperature and sorption time on the adsorption of heavy metals were investigated using batch process experiments It was found that green mussel shell can be used as a low cost adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals in aqueous solution. The maximum ion adsorption capacities followed the trend lead > chromium > cadmium and the percentage adsorption was found to depend on the concentration of the adsorbent present, the solution pH, temperature and the sorption. This shows that the adsorption of metal ions on the adsorbent is chemisorption. Kinetic treatment of the results gave a pseudo-second order type of mechanism while the adsorption characteristics of the adsorbent followed the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. The results obtained proved that green mussel shells can be alternative resources of adsorbent materials.