Adsorptive removal of Fe and Cd from the textile wastewater using ternary bio-adsorbent: adsorption, desorption, adsorption isotherms and kinetic studies

Ternary bio-adsorbent was synthesized by using sisal fiber as a base with the integration of conductive polymer; polyaniline (PANI), supported with zero-valent iron nanoparticles by chemical activation with potassium hydroxide. The activation temperature impact on adsorption properties of Sisal fiber composite activated carbon was studied. The activation temperatures had a major effect on adsorption process as 100% removal efficiency was attained at 800 °C activated temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used for surface analysis of the adsorbent. Adsorption isotherms (Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin) were examined and the negative values of \(1/n_{F}\) $1/n_F$ demonstrated that the adsorption data does not match with Freundlich model for chemisorption. The pseudo second order and Elovich kinetics correlation coefficients for the retention of Fe and Cd to solid-phase interface at SF-800/NP/PANI (C) offered a better correlation for the bio-adsorption of Fe and Cd than pseudo first order kinetic. However, the pseudo second order kinetic attained a surpassing interaction for the bio-adsorption of Fe (0.989) than Cd (0.966); while the Elovich kinetic attained a surpassing interaction for the bio-adsorption of Cd (0.975) than Fe (0.945). The recovery and recycling stability of the bio-adsorbent composites were studied.