The development of multifunctional biochar with NiFe2O4 for the adsorption of Cd (II) from water systems: The kinetics, thermodynamics, and regeneration

Abstract

High concentrations of Cd (II) in wastewater have been reported several times which attracted top research attention to mitigate the pollution impacts of the contaminant. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a Zn-doped NiFe₂O₄^- pinecone biochar composite (ZNiF@PB) for the adsorption of Cd (II) from wastewater. FTIR confirmed immobilization of PB on the surface of ZNiF by the presence of C = O at 1638 cm^-1, COOH at 1385 cm^-1, C-O at 1009 cm^-1 and Fe-O at 756 cm^-1. Similarly, XRD determined the crystallite structure of the adsorbents where the ZNiF crystallite size of 43 nm was obtained while the particle size of ZNiF@PB was found to be 38 nm. These XRD results agreed with those values obtained from TEM images showing ZNiF and ZNiF@PB had a spherical shape with similar particle sizes. On the other hand, the surface areas of ZNiF, PB, and ZNiF@PB were found to be 78.4 m²/g, 125 m²/g, and 104 m²/g, respectively. These high surface areas have a huge potential to enhance Cd removal. With these adsorbents, the maximum Cd (II) adsorption of 96% was recorded at the optimum experimental condition of adsorbent dosage 0.5g/50 mL, solution pH 6, initial Cd (II) concentration 100 mg/L, and contact time 120 min. Practical adsorption kinetics data were well described by the pseudo-second order model whereas the adsorption isotherm was a perfect fit to the Langmuir isothermal model implying the adsorption process to be a monolayer with mainly a chemically bonded mechanism. In conclusion, this adsorbent is efficient for the adsorption of Cd (II) from wastewater and has also a huge potential to be applied for industrial-scale water purification.