Marble/granite composite to remove lead and cadmium from contaminated water

Contamination of water with heavy metals has grown to be an important environmental problem that offers serious risks to public health and the economy. In this study, a mixture of granite and marble powder from Egypt was mixed in proportion w/w (2:1) and was used as an adsorbent to remove lead and cadmium from aqueous solution. The prepared adsorbent was characterized by various techniques such as X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), EDX, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and surface area. 99.48% and 99.80%, respectively, of Pb2+ and Cd2+ were maximally adsorbed by the adsorbent. The optimal adsorption conditions, such as adsorbent dose, pH, initial metal concentration, solution temperature, and stirring time, were designed to maximize the adsorption of Pb2+ and Cd2+. These conditions were adsorbent doses of 0.25 g/50 ml, pH 6, an initial metal concentration of 50 ppm, 25°C and 2 hour contact time. Kinetic models and adsorption isotherms have been investigated. The findings concluded that the Pb2+ and Cd2+ adsorption fit the Langmuir adsorption isotherm quite well .While kinetics studies were displayed second -order model. The optimum parameters of maximum removal for (Pb2+) and (Cd2+) on the adsorbents were applied to a real water sample from the lab disposal of a Kima factory, which shows high adsorption efficiency..