E Karimyan - Sharif University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Tehran, Iran
H Dashtian - Sharif University of Technology, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Tehran, Iran
S Farhadi - Institute of Petroleum Engineering (IPT), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran,

In this study, Metal ions removal by pomegranate peel was investigated. This is the first time which pomegranate peel is used as a biosorbent for removal of metal ions such as Cu (II), Zn (II), Pb (II) and Cr (II). Experiments were carried out in a batch system as a function of initial PH, initial metal ions concentration and temperature. The adsorption capacity were higest at solution pH range 5-6 for Cu(II), Zn(II), and Pb(II) and 6-7 for Cr(II). The sorption capacity of pomegranate peel increased as the initial metal ions concentrations and temperature increased. The negative values of Gibbs free energy[Formula] indicates feasible and spontaneous nature of the adsorption of Cu(II), Zn(II), Pb(II) and Cr(II) onto pomegranate peel and the positive values of enthalpy change [Formula] suggested the endothermic nature of the adsorption process. The sorption data were subjected to different sorption isotherms and the results verified that Langmuir isotherm is the best model to be applied. An appropriate correlation coefficient was obtained using the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, suggesting that sorption process onto pomegranate peel tend to follow second-order kinetics.

Metal Ions Removal, Pomegranate Peel, Langmuir Isotherm, Endothermic