Batch and column investigation of copper(II) removal from aqueous media onto biochar prepared from Limonia acidissima shell

The industrialised revolt has made our life at ease; however, the release of heavy metals from the various industries posed a severe threat to both human and environmental health. The primary purpose of the contemporary work is to showcase the performance of biochar prepared from agricultural waste being used as an adsorbent for the remediation of Cu2+ ions from aqueous media. The respective lignocellulosic biomass has been characterised by BET, FESEM and XRD analysis. This exploration accentuated the application of a statistical tool, response surface methodology (RSM) coupled with Box-Behnken design (BBD), for the optimisation of the adsorption process by the Design-Expert software version 7.0 (Stat-Ease, Minneapolis, USA). The optimal conditions for the maximum removal of copper (98.62%) from an aqueous solution of 30 mg/L, i.e., pH (5.5), dosage (0.05 g), and temperature (49.08 degrees C) were achieved by desirability methodology in multi-response optimisation. The biochar was also anticipated to be a potential adsorbent for the continuous removal of copper from wastewater.