Fly ash modified waste cotton and cotton-polyester yarns for removal of heavy metals from water

Abstract

Using two types of industrial waste materials (yarns and fly ash), adsorbents for removing heavy metal ions from water were obtained. To improve the adsorption efficiency of cotton and cottonpolyester yarns, modification using fly ash and sodium alginate as a binder, was applied. Characterization of materials was performed by Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, while the concentration of lead and cadmium ions was determined using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The modification of the material has contributed to an increase in the adsorption efficiency of lead and cadmium by up to twice in comparis onto the unmodified materials. It was found that the kinetics of the metal adsorption process can be better described by a second-order pseudo model. The results showed that by combining two types of industrial waste, cotton and cotton/polyester yarns and fly ash, highly efficient adsorbents for removing lead and cadmium from aqueous solutions are obtained.