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Spent Tea Leaves (Camellia sinensis), its Effect on the Leaching and Biosorption Characteristics of Lead from Waste Cupels

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Abstract

Waste cupels from cupellation processes are known to contain some toxic substances. Improper disposal of these cupels without proper treatment leads to environmental pollution which is harmful to mankind. This study looked at an innovative way of using spent tea bags (Camellia sinensis) as an absorbent of these toxic substances before their disposal into the environment. Studies on the leaching and biosorption characteristics of lead from two different waste cupels (used for oxide ore and sulphide ore treatments) using spent tea leaves were conducted. The cupels were pulverised and characterised prior to acid digestion using aqua regia at 95 °C for 15 min. The mineralogical and chemical compositions were determined using XRD and ICP-MS, respectively. Leachates from the waste cupels were contacted with spent tea leaves and the biosorption efficiency and specific metal update determined. Results showed that lead concentrations in waste cupels from oxide ore (CWO) increased as particle sizes increased while lead concentration from sulphide ore (CWS) decreased with increased particle sizes. The biosorption efficiency of lead was higher in CWO leachate (> 99%) than in CWS leachate (< 98%). Specific metal uptake was also higher in CWO than CWS. In both samples, the adsorption isotherms fitted well with the Langmuir model. The study shows that spent tea leaves can be used to extract some amount of lead in waste cupels before discharging into the environment rendering the waste cupels non-toxic. This will go a long way to reduce the environmental damage caused by their disposal into the environment.

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All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Materials Engineering Department, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Emmanuel Gikunoo, Anthony Andrews, Daniel Nframah Ampong & Pearl Narkie Korli

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  1. Emmanuel Gikunoo
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  2. Anthony Andrews
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The contributing editor for this article was U. Pal.

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Gikunoo, E., Andrews, A., Ampong, D.N. et al. Spent Tea Leaves (Camellia sinensis), its Effect on the Leaching and Biosorption Characteristics of Lead from Waste Cupels. J. Sustain. Metall. 8, 872–881 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-022-00550-8

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