Adsorption of lead using a new green material obtained from Portulaca plant

In the present study the potential of a new green material obtained from Portulaca oleracea plant was investigated. The material was used without any chemical treatment to study the adsorption behavior of lead ions from aqueous solution. Various batch experiments were carried out using different experimental conditions such as pH, contact time, adsorbent concentration, and metal ion concentration to identify the optimum conditions. The influence of these parameters on the adsorption capacity was studied. Results showed the optimum initial pH for adsorption as 6. Adsorption equilibrium was reached in 120 min. The adsorption data were modeled using both the Langmuir and Freundlich classical adsorption isotherms. Results show ~78% removal of lead from aqueous solution. The kinetic data corresponded well with pseudo second-order equation. From the initial results, the green material obtained from the waste of Portulaca seems to be a potential low-cost adsorbent for removal of lead ions from water