Adsorption of HG(II) using tofu waste based adsorbent

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adsorbent capacity based on solid waste of tofu in removing mercury ions. A series of batch experiments were performed. The process parameters studied were pH, mass of adsorbent and contact time. pH is an important factor in the process. The mercury ion removal was low at pH 2 and achieved a high removal at pH 5. Increased use of adsorbent mass increased the removal of metal ions. The removal of mercury ion reached the highest value at a mass of 1.25 g of adsorbent. The longer contact time provided greater metal ion removal. The highest removal of mercury ions reached 90%. The characterization of adsorbent using SEM showed that the surface morphology of adsorbent supported mercury ions adsorption. EDX analyses proved the deposition of mercury on the adsorbent. From the results of the study it has been shown that the adsorbent from tofu waste is highly potential to be heavy metal adsorbent.