Efficacy and field applicability of Burmese grape leaf extract (BGLE) for cadmium removal: An implication of metal removal from natural water

Burmese Grape Leaf Extract (BGLE), a low cost adsorbent was studied for cadmium (Cd(II)) removal from metal solutions and natural water samples. Batch adsorption studies were carried out to examine the influence of contact time and initial metal concentration after characterization under scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Cd(II)adsorptiononto BGLE was best explained by pseudo-second order kinetics (R² = 0.99) and best fitted with Langmuir isotherm model (R² = 0.76). Beside the selective adsorption activity of BGLE towards Cd(II), only 0.1 g of BGLE have shown effective adsorption of these ions with a maximum adsorption capacity (q<inf>m</inf>) of 44.72 mg g⁻¹. This study was a unique combination of laboratory experiments and field implication. Study indicates that same efficacy cannot be obtained in natural water samples as obtained in the case of laboratory due to the interference of major ions in water.