Abstract
•A new method for making use of fishbone wastes for removal of hazardous heavy metals from wastewater.•Synthesis of sorption-active fish bone by radiation-induced graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto fish bone.•Evaluation of the adsorption capacities of the synthesized adsorbent materials for removal of lead and cadmium ions.•Pseudo-second-order and Langmuir isotherm model proved the best fit mechanism.•The grafted fish bones were effectively used as a sorbent for the removal of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions from aqueous solution.
Bones obtained from Mullet fish in the Red Sea were grafted with acrylic acid by radiation-induced polymerization and were used as natural sorbents in the removal of lead and cadmium ions which are considered as major pollutants in the wastewater. The removal efficiency of the adsorbent was investigated as a function of pH, contact time, initial metal ion concentration, and adsorbent dose. The maximum adsorption capacities of lead and cadmium ions were 855mg/g and 785mg/g, respectively at optimum conditions. The kinetic studies of adsorption for lead and cadmium ions were found to obey a pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption of both ions was found to fit the Langmuir isotherm. The grafted fishbone was effectively used as a sorbent for the removal of Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions from aqueous solution.