Removal of iron, zinc and magnesium from polluted water samples using thioglycolic modified oil-palm fibre

Abstract

Various kinds of agro and wood based fibres can be used to filter both trace and heavy metals from
contaminated solutions. The efficacy of thioglycolic acid treated oil-palm fibre was investigated in this
study. The result showed maximum absorptions (at pH = 6) of 83.6, 75.6 and 50.8% for Fe
++
, Zn
++
and
Mg
++
respectively in the Southern Point (SP) samples. Similarly, 79.1, 78.3 and 77.5% for Fe
++
, Zn
++
and
Mg
++
were obtained for Northern Point (NP) samples. The removal efficiency of the metals was pH as
well as ionic size dependent. The uptake capacities showed that iron had a higher capacity than zinc
while magnesium had the least. This study therefore suggests that thioglycolic acid modified oil-palm
fibre is highly efficient in sorption of metals from solutions and should be used as such at a slightly
acidic pH.