ADSORTION POTENTIAL OF GARLIC, GINGER AND LEMON IN THE REMOVAL OF HEAVY METALS FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

Abstract

This work was conducted to assess the efficiency of Garlic, Ginger and Lemon in the removal of some Heavy Metals from aqueous solution. Batch adsorption process was employed in the experiments. Different dosages (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0) g of the adsorbents and concentrations of the heavy metals (1000ppm, 800ppm, 600ppm, 400ppm, and 200ppm) were prepared and used. Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopic (FAAS) was used to determine the amount of heavy metal concentrations adsorbed at each stage of the experiment. Results obtained show that there was remarkable reduction of metal concentrations in the solutions. However, comparatively, the efficiency of garlic in absorbing the metals is greater than that of ginger and lemon at all conditions. Thus, results obtained suggest that Garlic, Ginger and Lemon could be promising adsorbents for heavy metal removal in aqueous solutions, but garlic has greater efficiency in adsorbing the metals particularly zinc and copper.