Edwiyovwiri E. J* and Ogene, B. O
This study was carried out to investigate the feasibility and optimum conditions of removal of lead and cadmium ion from aqueous solution using ion exchange resins obtained from sugarcane bagasse by chemical modification. The three different variables considered were initial concentration, contact time and pH. The metal concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. It was found that the concentration of metals ions adsorbed increased with increase in initial metal ion concentration. However, the % adsorbed for lead and cadmium ions were in the range of 10.5 – 32% and 13.16 – 36.51% respectively. The percentage of concentration of metal ions adsorbed also increased with contact time but higher in cadmium than lead with the range of 21.5 – 58.5% for lead, while the range for cadmium lied between 32.9 – 80.1%. The effect of pH on the adsorption of lead and cadmium ions showed that the adsorption of both lead and cadmium ions are similar in behaviour. At the pH of between 3 – 7, the removal of lead and cadmium ions increased from 21.5 - 68.2% and 32.4% to 91.3% respectively. However, beyond the pH of 7 down to 11, the removal of lead ions decreased from 68.2% to 58.5%, while that of cadmium ions slightly reduced from 91.3- 80.1%. Moreover, the pH range of 6.8 – 7.2 can be said to be an ideal pH for the adsorption of both metals with the prepared resin. The adsorption of cadmium ions was more quantitative than the adsorption of lead ions by the resin with the three variables.
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