Introduction
Water is one of the necessities of every living thing on earth. About 70% of earth consists of water. However, 750 million people around the world lack access to safe water. The lack of water causes diarrhea, cholera, renal failure and related diseases (Nhapi, 2011). Because of these diseases and problems involving water, the diversity of humans, fishes, animals and plants are threatened. This leads the researchers and even the common people to look for solutions to treat water.
Wastewater all over the Philippines is polluted because of the heavy metals which may worsen the condition of the water on different areas. Due to heavy metals on the wastewater, diseases and complications may occur. These heavy metals maybe a threat to the people around a certain polluted area. Even though freshwater is available, many of these water sources are contaminated by natural means or through human activity (Wimalawansa, 2013).
Lemongrass has been a part of people’s lives. It has been used for cooking, particularly a spice for food. Its oil has been used also for massage therapy but some articles/studies have shown that lemongrass has the ability to accumulate heavy metals, specifically cobalt.
This research aims to determine the effect of lemongrass on the adsorption of cadmium in wastewater. It also aims to determine the amount of cadmium that will be adsorbed by the lemongrass.
Objective/s:
– To adsorb cadmium in wastewater using lemongrass
– To determine the effect of lemongrass on the adsorption of cadmium in wastewater
– To determine the amount of cadmium being adsorbed by the lemongrass
Hypothesis:
– Lemongrass will adsorb greater amount of cadmium in wastewater.
– The greater the amount of lemongrass, the greater the amount of cadmium it will adsorb.
Significance:
– This research will show the potential of lemongrass in adsorbing cadmium.
– This will help in determining the effect of lemongrass on the adsorption of cadmium.
– This research will inform the people on what ways they can do to treat water so that diseases, contamination will be prevented.
Methodology
Preparation of Adsorbent
Around 1 kg of lemongrass will be collected and will be wash with tap water followed by distilled water. The grass will leave to dry for 3 days. Once completely dried, the lemongrass will be grind to fine particles using grinding mill.
Adsorbate
The stock solution of 1L of Cadmium will be prepared.
Experimental Procedure
The procedure mentioned will be followed, where several batches will be prepared to study the effect of initial concentration of cadmium. The adsorption experiments will be carried out with same temperature and days
A series of batch experiments were carried out to determine the adsorption isotherms of selected heavy metals on the adsorbents. Three heavy metal solution of cadmium will be placed in 500 ml beakers at pH 7”0.2 and known amount of lemongrass will be added to each beaker. The flask will be shaken at a constant rate of 250 rpm to ensure that the equilibrium will be reached. The study will be performed at a constant temperature of 25 degree Celsius to be representative of environmentally relevant condition. All the experiments will be carried out in duplicates and the average value will be used for further calculation. To avoid the fluctuation of pH due to the exchange of gases during the experiment of the beakers will be kept closed.
Data Analysis
Adsorption is the process by which a components or adsorbate moving from phase (solution) to the surface of another phase (adsorbent) which leads to changes in the concentration of adsorbate on the surface (Rumapar, K, 2014) GBC 932AA atomic adsorption spectrometer (AAS) AAS will be used to analyze the concentration level of heavy metals and to determine the amount of chemical elements present using the absorption of optical radiation (light) by free atoms in the gaseous state that will be operated by an air acetylene flame.
Micrometrics surface area analyzer
MSAA will be used for all adsorption experiments for agitating sample for a desired contact time.