Sustainable removal of Cr(VI) from wastewater by Peltophorum pterocarpum leaf powder

Heavy metals discharged from various industrial activities instigate a significant risk to health risk and the environmental hazards. Numerous methods are available (namely electro-dialysis, ion exchange, membrane filtration, ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis) for removing heavy metals from industrial effluent. Chromium mainly hexavalent chromium i.e. Cr(VI) is considered to be one of the most toxic heavy metals amongst the list. The present work emphasizes on biosorption of Cr(VI) towards efficient removal. The current work highlights on optimization of process variable, which is influencing the removal through biosorption using Peltophorum pterocarpum leaf powder. The experimental design of Box-Behnken was applied to determine the
optimum parametric conditions. Characterization of Peltophorum pterocarpum leaf powder ( PPL ) was carried out through FTIR and SEM analysis. The highest removal percentage was attained 90.94 through biosorption at pH- 4.15, initial concentration of 39.81 mg L -1 and biosorbent dosage of 0.3 g. The experimental sorption study obeyed the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo second-order kinetic models. Desorption studies were performed with 0.1N NaOH solution for the regeneration of biosorbent. The entire experimental results concluded that Peltophorum pterocarpum leaf ( PPL) powder could be a potential biosorbent for removal of hexavalent chromium from industrial wastewater.