Comparative analysis of Activated Corn Cob and Bentonite Clay for the Removal of Lead and Nickel from Raw Water

The extensive use of commercial activated carbon as an adsorbent for the purification of industrial effluent is not economical for small and medium-sized enterprises due to its high operational cost. This study was carried out to compare the adsorptive capacity of bentonite clay and activated corn cob (“BC” and “ACC”) for the removal of lead (II) and nickel (II) ions from an aqueous solution. The results obtained from the characterization of the BC and ACC are pH: 7.43 and 6.74; moisture content: 36.45kg/kg and 12.10kg/kg, and bulk density: 1.243g/ml and 1.162g/ml, respectively. Normality tests using the coefficient of skewness indicated that the set of data was not normally distributed. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) test conducted using Friedman’s 2-way ANOVA test indicated p values of 0.0253 against an alpha value of 0.05, which indicates significance. The Friedman results indicated significance with respect to the varied dosages, initial concentrations, and contact time. The effect of the adsorbent was not significant. The adsorption isotherms were analysed using the Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin isotherms. Most research studies have shown that adsorption experiments performed using most low-cost materials tend to follow the Freundlich adsorption isotherm, but the results of this experimental study proved that activated corn cob and bentonite clay performed better with the Temkin adsorption isotherm with 0.879 ≤ R² ≤ 0.917 for the bentonite clay and 0.9572 ≤ R² ≤ 0.99 for the activated corn cob respectively. The study revealed that these materials are good adsorbents that can be used for the removal of lead (II) and nickel (II) ions from an aqueous solution.