Adsorption of Lead (II) Ion from Aqueous Solutions using Banana (<i>Musa Acuminata</i>) Peel

This study explored the adsorption capacity of banana (Musa Acuminata) peel for the removal of Pb (II) ion from aqueous solutions. The effect of adsorbent modification as well as various operational parameters such as adsorbate concentration, pH, adsorbent dosage, particle size, temperature and contact time on the adsorption of Pb2+ ion was investigated in batch experiments. The Freundlich model represented the biosorption process better than the others, with R2 values of 0.985 and 0.987and adsorption capacities of 51.05 mg/g and 52.58 mg/g for the non-modified and modified adsorbents respectively. The adsorption process was predicted better with the pseudo second order kinetics for the two adsorbents with R2 values of 0.964 and 0.966 for the non-modified and modified adsorbents respectively. A maximum removal value of 98.7% was obtained for the modified adsorbents at an adsorbent dose of 0.5 g, particle size of 150 μm, temperature of 27 °C, stirring speed of 120 rpm and a contact time of 30 minutes. Banana peel proved to be an agro-waste adsorbent for the removal of Pb (II) ion in aqueous solution with parameters considered in this work.Keywords: adsorption, banana peels, isotherms, kinetics, lead (II) ion