Removal of Heavy Metals in Aqueous Solution Using Bananaand OrangePeels

This study compares the abilities oftwo low cost natural resources materials: banana and
orange peel to remove Cadmium, Cd(II), Iron, Fe(III) and Nickel, Ni (II) simultaneously
from aqueous solution. Kinetic studies and equilibrium sorption isotherm were measured
in batch conditions. The results show that the Freundlich model gave a better fitting to the
experimental data than Langmuir model within the concentration range studied. Two
parameters were regulated throughout the experiment: adsorbent mass and initial solution
concentration. The amount of metals uptake of both banana and orange peels was
evaluated quantitavely. Ahigh Fe(III) sorption wasobserved by bothbanana andorange
peels followed by Ni(II) and Cd(II) metal ions. The adsorption capacity was found to be3
mg/g (Fe3+), 2.52 mg/g (Ni2+), and 2.35 mg/g (Cd2+) using banana peel sorbent and was 3
mg/g (Fe3+), 2.58 mg/g (Ni2+) and 2.37 mg/g (Cd2+) using orange peel sorbent