Waste-Derived Siliceous Materials as a Novel Sorbent for Removal of Ni2+ from Aqueous Solutions

In the present study, the preparation of sorbent from waste-derived siliceous materials has been investigated for the removal of nickel ion (Ni2+) from aqueous solutions. Three types of ashes, i.e., rice husk ash (RHA), palm oil fuel ash (PFA), and coal fly ash (CFA), were used in the preparation of sorbent. Batch studies were carried out to examine the effect of various experimental parameters, i.e., RHA/CFA/PFA ratio in the sorbent preparation, contact time, initial concentration of Ni2+, agitation rate, and pH. Among all the ratios of the prepared sorbent, it was found that sorbent containing RHA and PFA gave the highest Ni2+ removal efficiency. The optimum conditions for Ni2+ removal using RHA/PFA sorbent were obtained at contact time of 30 min, Ni2+ concentration of 100 mg/L, agitation rate of 130 rpm, and pH 4. During the optimum condition, more than 90% of Ni2+ could be removed in all experiment studies. It was also found that the spent RHA/PFA sorbents had a narrow range of particle size distributions as compared to prepared RHA/PFA sorbent. In addition, the surface morphology of the spent RHA/PFA sorbents had more compact structures.