Evaluation of Lead Removal by Activated Citrus Sinensis Biochar Impregnated with Calcium Alginate Beads

This study introduces an innovative method of using activated carbon derived from orange peels incorporated into calcium alginate beads to remove lead from synthetic water efficiently. This novel approach demonstrates remarkable effectiveness in addressing lead pollution in water. Established techniques such as SEM and FTIR were employed to characterize the adsorbents created in the laboratories. Batch studies confirmed the lead adsorbed were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of lead removal, with the highest removal efficiencies achieved at pH 6.5 (90.3%), an adsorbent dose of 2 mg (90.3%), a contact time of 50 minutes (92.3%), and an initial lead solution concentration of 20 ppm (93.2%). The study employed various adsorption models, including Langmuir, Freundlich, and Tempkin models. The Langmuir model exhibited an excellent fit to the adsorption isotherm at 60 °C, as indicated by a high linear regression correlation coefficient. For the bioadsorption process, pseudo-second-order kinetics fits well (R2 = 0.9992). The analytical results verify that activated carbon from discarded orange peels and calcium alginate beads effectively removes Pb, offering an encouraging solution for water purification challenges.