Removal of Cadmium Ions from Aqueous Solutions Using Flax Seeds as an Adsorbent

Abstract

Removal of Cd(II) from aqueous solution through adsorption using flax seeds was studied. Adsorption parameters such as pH, adsorbent particle size, adsorbent dosages, and initial concentrations of metal ions were studied. All experiments were conducted at room temperature. Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models were applied to describe the quantitative uptake of Cd(II) ions by adsorbent. The results show that the maximum adsorption removal reach to 77 % for Cd (II) onto flax seeds, at optimum operating conditions: pH of 5, particle size of 75µm, adsorbent dosage of 2 g/100 ml and metal concentration of 5 mg/L . The equilibrium adsorption data for Cd(II) were better fitted to Freundlich adsorption isotherm model than Langmuir. The study concludes that the use of flax seeds as an economic and locally adsorbent for removing Cd(II) from polluted solution is effective. Thus offering a low cost material show potential use it to remove heavy metals.