Process optimization using response surface methodology for the removal of thorium from aqueous solutions using rice-husk

The adsorptive capability of rice-husk for the sorption of thorium ions from aqueous solutions in batch mode was studied. The key process variables (initial metal ion concentration, initial solution pH and S/L (solid-to-liquid ratio) were optimized for achieving maximum bioremoval efficiency (B%) by employing the Box-Behnken design (33) in response surface methodology (RSM). A quadratic model developed by fitting the experimental data predicted 93% of the responses and estimated the local maximum of B% as >99% for an initial ThIV concentration of 150 g/L, S/L ratio of 5, and an initial pH of 4, and the reported biosorption capacity (qe) is 15.95 mg/g for the same conditions. Freundlich isotherm (R2 = 0.9841) and pseudo-first-order (R2 = 0.9416) kinetic models had the best concurrence with the experimental data in the thorium concentration range used implying the sorption mechanism involves surface biosorption and intraparticle diffusion.