Search

Browse

• Communities

My Space

• Login

Adsorption of land and Cadmium onto diatomite and cotton gin waste biοchar

Christodoulou Eleni

Full record

---

Summary

The intensive agricultural activity in Mediterranean countries, particularly in Greece, has led to the generation of large quantities of agro-industrial waste, especially from the processing of crops, such as cotton. Although these by-products are not commercially valuable, they have attracted an increasing research interest due to their potential for environmental applications. At the same time, widespread environmental contamination by toxic metals, such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) represents a major ecological challenge of recent decades. These metals are toxic, non-biodegradable, and tend to accumulate in living organisms, highlighting the urgent need for effective and economically viable removal methods.In this context, the present thesis focuses on evaluating the adsorption capacity of two materials, natural diatomite and biochar produced via pyrolysis of cotton gin waste, for the removal of Pb and Cd from aqueous solutions. Following the physicochemical characterization of the materials, adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of various parameters, such as adsorbent dosage, initial metal concentration, contact time and pH, on the efficiency of the process. The experimental results were evaluated using pseudo-first and pseudo-second order kinetic models, as well as Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models.Regarding lead removal, the biochar exhibited higher adsorption capacity compared to natural diatomite, while for cadmium, both materials showed similar performance, with diatomite also demonstrating good adsorption capacity comparable to that of biochar. Furthermore, it was found that the biochar produced via pyrolysis exhibited was more effective in removing both metals, a result attributed to the development of a porous structure and an increase in active functional groups.Overall, the findings indicate that both materials are capable of removing toxic metals from aqueous environments. However, biochar showed superior removal efficiency for both metals, particularly for lead. This thesis highlights the potential of agro-industrial waste utilization for environmental applications, contributing both to waste management and water decontamination. 

Available Files

Services