Removal of heavy metal ions from their aqueous solutions

During present investigation, removal of Copper, Iron and Nickel from aqueous solutions of CuSO₄.7H₂O, FeSO₄.7H₂O and NiSO₄.7H₂O (40 ppm) with the help of activated as well as fresh leaves of Eucalyptus, sweet orange, Neem, Hibiscus, Teak, Grass and other adsorbent like Tea waste was evaluated. These metal ions were selected based on their industrial applications and pollution potential impact on the environment. The experimental observations were recorded with time interval of 2 hours. Analytical experiments revealed that, fresh leaves of Eucalyptus and sweet orange were responsible for 65% removal of copper, while activated leaves of same plant species showed 77% and 72% of copper removal respectively. For Fe²⁺, fresh leaves of Neem and sweet orange showed 65% adsorbing efficiency, but activated leaves of Neem and Eucalyptus showed greater percentage of removal of iron ion (75% & 77% respectively). For Nickel ion, only activated leaves of Eucalyptus showed better results than other plant leaves. Among all selected adsorbents, Tea waste showed moderate, and Grass lower efficiency of metal ion removal from aqueous solutions. On the basis of observed results, it was conclude that, activated leaves of selected plants species show better adsorbing capacity of metal ions from the aqueous solutions than the that shown by fresh leaves.