Potential use of Caulerpa fastigiata biomass for removal of lead: kinetics, isotherms, thermodynamic, and characterization studies

The present study attempts to analyze the biosorption trend of biosorbent Caulerpa fastigiata (macroalgae) biomass for removal of toxic heavy metal ion Pb (II) from solution as a function of initial metal ion concentration, pH, temperature, sorbent dosage, and biomass particle size. The sorption data fitted with various isotherm models and Freundlich model was the best one with correlation coefficient of 0.999. Kinetic study results revealed that the sorption data on Pb (II) with correlation coefficient of 0.999 can best be represented by pseudo-second-order. The biosorption capacity (q _e ) of Pb (II) is 16.11?±?0.32 mg g^?1 on C. fastigiata biomass. Thermodynamic studies showed that the process is exothermic (ΔH° negative). Free energy change (ΔG°) with negative sign reflected the feasibility and spontaneous nature of the process. The SEM studies showed Pb (II) biosorption on selective grains of the biosorbent. The FTIR spectra indicated bands corresponding to –OH, COO^?, –CH, C?=?C, C?=?S, and –C–C– groups were involved in the biosorption process. The XRD pattern of the C. fastigiata was found to be mostly amorphous in nature.