Optimization of Sodium Alginate‑Graphene Nanoplate‑Kaolin Bio‑composite Adsorbents in Heavy Metal Adsorption by Response Surface Methodology (RSM)

Abstract

In this study, graphene nanoplate-kaolin-sodium alginate (GKS) bio-composite adsorbent was prepared, and the copper removal from wastewater by the adsorption method was investigated. Characterization of adsorbent was carried out using a scanning electron microscope, Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy, and thermo-gravimetric analysis methods. In addition to the parametric adsorption studies, experimental optimization was also applied with parameters determined by the central composite design of response surface methodology (RSM). Effects of copper concentration (from 10 to 50 ppm), pH (from 3 to 7), and adsorption dosage (from 0.05 to 0.15 g/L) were investigated to determine the optimum design points. In order to determine the efficiency of heavy metal adsorption, four experimental parameters (adsorbent dosage, metal concentration, pH, and contact time) were evaluated. As a result, the highest removal of 92.12% was obtained when the heavy metal concentration was 10 mg/L, the adsorbent dosage was 0.15 g, the solution pH was 7, and the contact time was 180 min. Adsorption isotherm studies were also carried out. The appropriate adsorption isotherm for copper removal using GKS was determined as Langmuir isotherm. According to the optimization results, the quadratic model with an R2 of 0.9946 was found to be the most suitable model.