Comparison study of the effect of Lignocellulose Nano-fibers (LCNFs) and Chitin Nano-fibers (CNFs) as natural biopolymers on removal of lead ion from aqueous solutions

Pollution of aqueous solutions contain heavy metals is one of the serious environmental problems in recent decades. Surface absorption by the use of biological polymers (LCNFs and CNFs) is a novel environmentally friendly technology for reducing and removing heavy metals from industrial wastewater. The goal of this study was to investigate and compare the performance of LCNFs and CNFs adsorbents in the removal of heavy lead from aqueous solutions in a discontinuous system. The test conditions are considered for two completely identical adsorbents. Infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and transient electron microscopy (TEM) were used to identify the physical, chemical and structural characteristics of LCNFs and CNFs adsorbents. In the discontinuous system, pH parameters (4-9), absorption dose (0.1-1) g, contact time (15-120) min., lead initial concentration (10-50) mg/L and temperature (15-40) °C was studied. The results were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Duncan's tests for significant evaluation of changes in parameters. Results showed that the highest percentage of removal of lead (98.45%.) for LCNFs at 25 °C, pH 6, 60 min., absorbent dose of 0.3 g and lead concentration of 10 mg/L was obtained. The results of this study showed that LCNFs and CNFs adsorbents is considered as an optimal absorber for removal lead from aqueous solutions by removing more than 98% of lead from aqueous solutions.