Adsorption of Heavy Metal (Nickel) In Waste Water Treatment Using Banana Peels

Heavy metal contamination exists in aqueous wastes of many industries in Malaysia
and nickel is of the many type of heavy metal ions that are available in the Malaysian
waste water streams. There are various ways to remove heavy metal ions from waste
water; however the main disadvantages such as economically unattractive and
ineffectiveness of the methods has led to the development of alternative technologies.
Adsorption is being widely used for removal of heavy metals from waste streams and
activated carbon has been frequently used as an adsorbent. However, agricultural
wastes are currently being experimented as adsorbents which here in Malaysia, are in
abundant and cost effective. Banana peels have been more popularly used in many
studies as being one of the more effective and inexpensive type of agricultural waste.
This project aims to study the adsorption capacities of three different types of banana
peels as an adsorbent to adsorb nickel by manipulating variables such as the contact
time, dosage of banana peels and nickel concentrations at constant room temperature.
The banana peels' surface characteristics were studied using the CHN Analyzer and
the FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrometer. Furthermore, the batch
adsorption tests were analyzed using the AAS Analysis.