Efficient removal of lead and arsenic using macromolecule-carbonized rice husks

The adsorption process using inexpensive adsorbents is one of the methods to remove contaminants from aqueous solutions. Biomass porous carbon based materials are among the most widely used adsorbents in this field. Rice husk is a bio-based adsorbent material for pollutant removal. In this study, the porous carbon material obtained from the rice husk was used for the adsorptive removal of lead (Pb) and arsenic (As) from aqueous solutions. Silica was removed from rice husk structure through the one-step reaction using PTFE. The morphological and crystallographic characteristics of the adsorbent surface were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The removal efficiency was investigated under different conditions of pH (3–9), contact time (3–90min), adsorbent amount (0.5–6 g/l) and initially adsorbed concentration (10–100 μg/l) by changing the parameters in the adsorption reactions. The Response Surface Method (RSM), a Box-Behnken design (BBD), was used to optimize adsorption of Lead and Arsenic by Rice husk. The removal efficiency was finally calculated using analysis of variance. According to the adsorption analysis results, the removal efficiency of Pb and As in aqueous solutions increased (up to 97%, 85% for Lead and Arsenic) under optimum conditions.