Study of Isothermal, Kinetic, and Thermodynamic Parameters for Adsorption of Cadmium: An Overview of Linear and Nonlinear Approach and Error Analysis

Reports about presence and toxicity of Cd2+ in different chemical industrial effluents prompted the researchers to explore some economical, rapid, sensitive, and accurate methods for its determination and removal from aqueous systems. In continuation of series of investigations, adsorption of Cd2+ onto the stem of Saccharum arundinaceum is proposed in the present work. Optimization of parameters affecting sorption potential of Cd2+ including pH, contact time, temperature, sorbent dose, and concentration of sorbate was carried out to determine best suited conditions for maximum removal of sorbate. To understand the nature of sorption process, linear and nonlinear forms of five sorption isotherms including Freundlich and Langmuir models were employed. Feasibility and viability of sorption process were evaluated by calculating kinetics and thermodynamics of the process, while error analysis suggested best fitted sorption model on sorption data. Thermodynamic studies demonstrated exothermic nature of reaction, while kinetic studies suggested pseudo-second order of reaction.