Theses and Dissertations

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3863-0070

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Mlsna, Todd E.

Committee Member

Stokes, Sean

Committee Member

Emerson, Joseph P.

Date of Degree

12-13-2024

Original embargo terms

Worldwide

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Chemistry

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Chemistry

Abstract

The biochar-bentonite clay hybrid was prepared by coprecipitation with the goal of producing a material that can remove Pb (II) from aqueous solutions effectively. Incorporating bentonite clay onto the Douglas fir biochar (DFB-BTC) surface significantly improved the adsorption capacity by introducing more active sites, strengthening the structural properties, and promoting strong adsorbate interactions. The point of zero charge of the adsorbent was slightly higher than that of the pristine DFBC. All sorption experiments were performed at pH 5, and the system obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The highest Langmuir adsorption capacities observed at 298, 308, and 318 K were 48, 80, and 78 mg/g, respectively, with 99.85% as the highest removal efficiency. The sorption kinetics showed that equilibrium was reached after 2h for both 5 and 50 mg/L Pb(II) solutions, whereas equilibrium was attained after 4h for 100 mg/L, which fit a pseudo-second-order model. The surface characterization was determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), BET, and FTIR. This study aimed to develop a facile, eco-friendly, versatile, low-cost, and hybrid biochar-bentonite clay (BBC) for an exhaustive evaluation of Pb (II) uptake in water.

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