Competitive Effect of Zinc and Cadmium on the Biosorption of Chromium by Orange Waste

Abstract

Batch experiments were conducted to test orange waste (OW), an agricultural solid waste byproduct from the orange juice manufacturing industry, as adsorbent for binary solutions of Cd2+-Cr3+ and Zn2+-Cr3+. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the point of zero charge (pHpzc) were used to identify the functional groups on the OW surface involved in biosorption. The biosorption equilibrium data for both binary-metal solutions were obtained and fitted to various isotherm models. The extended Sips and the non-modified Redlich-Peterson isotherm models gave the best fit for the experimental data. According to the extended Sips model, the maximum biosorption capacity of OW was 0.573 mmol·g−1 for Cd2+, 0.453 mmol·g−1 for Zn2+, and 1.96 mmol·g−1 for Cr3+. The sorption capacity dropped to 0.061 mmol·g−1 for Cd2+ and to 0.101 mmol·g1 for Zn2+ in their binary systems with Cr3+ for the higher initial metal concentrations in the solution. However, the maximum sorption capacity of chromium was only slightly affected by the presence of Cd2+ or Zn2+. For both binary systems, the presence of a second metal ion in the solution always conduces to a reduction in the sorption of the other metal in the solution. The presence of Cr3+ decreased the sorption of Cd2+ and Zn2+ more than vice versa. Conclusively, effective removal of Cr3+ ions from an aqueous solution can still be achieved in the presence of Cd2+ or Zn2+.