Neem Leaf Utilization for Copper and Zinc Ions Removal from Aqueous Solution

Reena Malik, Suman Lata, Sushila Singhal

Abstract: An adsorbent was developed from mature leaves of the Neem (Azadirachta indica) tree for removing copper and zinc from water. Adsorption was carried out in a batch process with several different concentrations of copper and zinc by varying pH. The uptake of metal was very fast initially; but gradually slowed down indicating penetration into the interior of the adsorbent particles. The data showed that optimum pH for efficient biosorption of copper and zinc by Neem leaves is5 and 4. Due to its outstanding zinc uptake capacity; the Neem tree was proved to be an excellent biomaterial for accumulating zinc from aqueous solutions.

Keywords: Biosorption, Neem, Zinc, Waste water, Kinetics, Heavy metals Gibbs free energy