Activitation of peat to remove Pb²⁺ and Cd²⁺ ions in aqueous solution

In this study, peat was activated peat by 2.0 M H3PO4 solution and the product was dried at 105 oC for 6 hours. Material characteristics show that the activated peat sample has a higher specific surface area and porosity than the raw peat sample. The adsorption properties of the materials were evaluated through the removal of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions in aqueous solution. The study shows that the experimental data of adsorption of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions on activated peat are well described by Langmuir Freundlich, Redlich- Peterson and Temkin isotherm models, but the Langmuir and Redlich- Peterson adsorption isotherm models are more suitable. The activated peat material had a maximum adsorption capacity for Pb2+ and Cd2+ of 33.33 mg/g and 29.07 mg/g, respectively. In addition, the study also showed that the adsorption of both Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions on activated peat followed the pseudo-second-order model. From the research results obtained, it is shown that peat-derived adsorbents have great potential in removing heavy metal ions in aqueous solutions.