Biosorption of Cd+2 by green plant biomass, Araucaria heterophylla: characterization, kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic studies

Abstract The present study attempted to analyze the biosorption behavior of novel biosorbent, Araucaria heterophylla (green plant) biomass, to remove Cd+2 from solutions against various parameters, i.e., initial metal ion concentration, pH, temperature, sorbent dosage and biomass particle size. The maximum biosorption was found to be 90.02% at pH 5.5 and biosorption capacity (q e) of Cd+2 is 9.2506 mg g−1. The Langmuir and Freundlich equilibrium adsorption isotherms were studied and it was observed that Freundlich model is the best fit than the Langmuir model with correlation co-efficient of 0.999. Kinetic studies indicated that the biosorption process of Cd+2 well followed the pseudo-second-order model with R 2 0.999. Thermodynamic studies observed that the process is exothermic (ΔH ° negative). Free energy change (ΔG °) with negative sign reflected the feasibility and spontaneous nature of the process. The chemical functional –OH groups, CH2 stretching vibrations, C=O carbonyl group of alcohol, C=O carbonyl group of amide, P=O stretching vibrations and –CH groups were involved in the biosorption process. The XRD pattern of the A. heterophylla was found to be mostly amorphous in nature. The SEM studies showed Cd+2 biosorption on selective grains of the biosorbent. It was concluded that A. heterophylla leaf powder can be used as an effective, low-cost, and environmentally friendly biosorbent for the removal of Cd+2 from aqueous solution. Graphical Abstrac