Removal of Copper (II) from Aqueous Solution Using Sawdust from Oak Wood as a New Biosorbent

Abstract

Sawdust, from oak wood, was evaluated as a new biosorbent of heavy metals. On contacting 0.01 m copper (II) solutions with 12 g sawdust, during a contact time of 60 min, the heavy metal removal was noted to be 89%. Metal ion sorption increased as the ratio of metal solution to the biomass quantity decreased. The increase in initial metal ion concentration was associated with a steep increase in biosorption at lower concentrations, progressively reaching towards plateau at higher metal concentrations.