Adsorption of Lanthanide Ions from an Aqueous Solution in Multicomponent Systems Using Activated Carbon from Banana Peels (Musa Paradisiaca L.)

Lanthanides in aqueous waste streams have received great attention due to their ability to pollute the environment. Therefore, efforts have been devoted to adsorbing lanthanides from waste industries. The evaluation of agro-waste by determining the adsorption efficiency of Ln³⁺ ions is an important step in developing a process for Ln³⁺ removal from water systems, as well as a method of isolating Ln³⁺ ions from mineral ores, such as low-grade bauxite. The adsorption performance of banana peels (Musa paradisiaca L.) was evaluated in the removal of Ln³⁺ ions. In addition, the adsorption of lanthanide ions from an aqueous solution in a multicomponent system was studied using activated carbon from banana peels. The selection of the best adsorbent was done by the iodine number method, where activated carbon had the highest iodine absorbance at 572.2 mg/g. The use of activated carbon as an adsorbent for the removal of commercial lanthanide ions from an aqueous solution was evaluated. The optimum condition in the Ln³⁺ multicomponent system for the adsorption of Y³⁺, La³⁺, Ce³⁺, Nd³⁺, and Sm³⁺ ions was determined to be a contact time of 2.5 h, a pH of 4, and an adsorbent dosage of 100 mg. The present research further supports the possibility of the adsorption of Ln³⁺ ions from low-grade bauxite with adsorption efficiencies of 67.6, 71.0, 65.0, 62.9, and 56.6% for Y³⁺, La³⁺, Ce³⁺, Nd³⁺, and Sm³⁺, respectively.

Activated carbon; Adsorption; Banana peels; Lanthanides; Low-grade bauxite; Multicomponent system

Lanthanides are critical materials for advanced and high technologies in many applications, particularly those in the energy, optic, electronic, chemical, automotive, defence (King et al., 2018), and nuclear power industries (Elsalamouny et al., 2017). The trivalent state of lanthanide is the most thermodynamically stable form in an aqueous solution (Elsalamouny et al., 2017). The separation of lanthanides utilizing different methods, including solvent extraction (Wang et al., 2017); plasma separation (Gueroult et al., 2018); hydrothermal (Josso et al., 2018), alkaline, and acid extraction (King et al., 2018); adsorption (Awual et al., 2013); and biosorption (Das & Das, 2013; Fomina & Gadd, 2014; Sadovsky et al., 2016; Elsalamouny et al., 2017) has been reported. In principle, precipitation and solvent extraction methods have technical limitations for treating a contaminated aqueous solution; for example, they require some pre-treatments involving physical and chemical processes. Currently, adsorption method using agricultural waste as an adsorbent for the removal of metal ions has been considered as an alternative and effective method of recovering the metal ions (Das & Das, 2013; Bhatnagar et al., 2015; Elsalamouny et al., 2017; Omo-Okoro et al., 2018;). On the other hand, adsorption method with biomaterials, such as microorganisms and biomass wastes, where adsorbates are bound by the active sites of the biomaterials have also attracted wide attention (Fomina & Gadd, 2014). Agricultural wastes, such as peels from citrus, bananas, cassavas, jackfruits, pomegranates, and garlic, have been explored as an adsorbent, and they offers advantages which surpass commercially available activated carbon via its large surface area, high adsorption capacity, high reactivity, and low cost (Omo-Okoro et al., 2018; Bhatnagar et al., 2015).

In this study, activated carbon derived from banana peels was synthesized and evaluated as an adsorbent for the removal of lanthanide ions. BET and iodine number were used to determine its characteristics. The recovery of lanthanide ions from low-grade bauxite was studied at a time of 2.5 h, a pH of 4, and a fixed dosage of 100 mg of the activated carbon adsorbent. The recovery (%) of lanthanide ions from low-grade bauxite is given as follows: Y (67.60), La (71.00), Ce (65.0), Nd (62.93), and Sm (56.59).

This research was financially supported by Universitas Indonesia through the grant PITTA No. 2430/UN2.R3.1/HKP.05.00/2018.

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