USE OF BIOCHAR IMPREGNATED WITH IRON AND CHITOSAN FOR HEAVY METAL REMOVAL: SORPTION PERFORMANCES

The presence of pollutants in aqueous solution, particularly from heavy metals is an important environmental and social problem. Iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and arsenic (As) can be found in groundwater, particularly if it is near gold mine. Thus, it is necessary to find the adsorbent that can remove these heavy metals and investigate its sorption performance.  Synthetic water solutions with Fe(II), Mn(II) and As(V) at concentration of 5.0, 5.0 and 0.1 mg/L, respectively, were used in batch adsorption study using bamboo biochar (B) and impregnated with iron (BFe) and chitosan (BC) as adsorbents. The results indicated that iron and chitosan could enhance the sorption capacity of heavy metal solution, especially for the adsorption of arsenic (> 90%) in BFe.