Removal of toxic metals from aqueous solution by biochars derived from long-root Eichhornia crassipes

Biochars were produced from long-root Eichhornia crassipes at four temperatures: 200, 300, 400 and 500°C, referred to as LEC200, LEC300, LEC400 and LEC500, respectively. The sorption ability of lead, zinc, copper and cadmium from aqueous solutions by four kinds of biochars was investigated. All the biochars had lower values of CEC and higher values of pH. LEC500 was the best one to bind toxic metals which can be reflected in the results of SEM, BET and elemental analyser. It was also found that alkyl, carboxyl, phosphate and cyano groups in the biochars can play a role in binding metals. In addition, the sorption processes of four metals by the biochars in different metal concentration were all excellently represented by the pseudo-second-order model with all correlation coefficients R(2) > 0.95. And the sorption processes of four metals in different temperatures could be described satisfactorily by the Langmuir isotherms. According to calculated results by the Langmuir equation, the maximum removal capacities of Pb(II), Zn(II), Cu(II) and Cd(II) at 298 K were 39.09 mg g(−1), 45.40 mg g(−1), 48.20 mg g(−1) and 44.04 mg g(−1), respectively. The positive value of the ΔH(0) confirmed the adsorption process was endothermic and the negative value of ΔG(0) confirmed the adsorption process was spontaneous. The sorption capacities were compared with several other lignocellulosic materials which implied the potential of long-root Eichhornia crassipes waste as an economic and excellent biosorbent for eliminating metal ions from contaminated waters.