Removal of Lead from polluted water using waste eggshell

Abstract

In the present project work our plan was to make an attempt to remove heavy metal ions (Pb ions in our case) from polluted water using low cost materials. Eggshell composed of mostly calcium carbonate is a waste natural product available abundantly. Since Ca ions have large affinity towards heavy metal ions, eggshell could be used for said purpose. We prepared artificially Pb-polluted water by adding Pb(NO3)2 in pure water and processed eggshell was used successfully to absorb lead from the solution used as the precursor impurity . Our aim was also to use simple and easily available instruments to detect the absorption of Pb ions from the impure water. The eggshell used was calcined at three different temperatures 3000C, 5000C and 9500C, respectively. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-visible spectroscopy and chemical test.The XRD spectra of 5000C and 9500C processed samples after Pb absorption from water indicate the presence of lead in different compositional forms (mostly PbO and PbCO3). The UV-VIS and FTIR spectra were studied to characterize the samples. Finally chemical test was done for confirming the absence of Pb salt in the filtered solution (water).