Abstract:
Rice husk was used to synthesize zeolite (ZSM-11). FTIR and X-ray diffraction methods were used to characterize the product. &e synthesized zeolite was used to treat underground water from some communities in Cape Coast considering parameters such as total dissolved solids, total hardness, conductivity, nitrate, and phosphate. &e percentage reduction in PO3− was 96.1% in Ebubonko and 92.5% in Apewosika. Similarly, the NO3− levels also decreased significantly in Kwaprow. &e adsorption capability was also determined by using it to remove Pb2+ and Zn2+ from laboratory prepared solutions with varying masses. &e percentage reduction recorded 90.57% and 86.61% for the 1.0 g whilst the 1.5 g showed 93.26% and 89.36%, respectively. It was also realized that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-first-order rather than the pseudo-second-order process with their R2 values of 0.9929 and 0.8503 for the pseudo-first-order and 0.9662 and 0.6912 for the second-order for Pb2+ and Zn2+, respectively. & The adsorption capacity also favored the Freundlich isotherm with R2 values of 0.7578 and 0.642 rather than Langmuir isotherm with R2 values of 0.1742 and 0.3856 for Pb2+ and Zn 2+, respectively. &e photodegradation ability of the synthesized zeolite was analyzed using rhodamine blue (RhB) and methyl orange (MO). &e process was realized to favor the pseudo-second-order with R2 values of 0.9986 and 0.0007 and a constant K2 of 0.035 and 0.021 for RhB and MO, respectively, whereas the pseudo-first-order showed an R 2 value of 0.9376 and 0.9757 with K1 values of 0.03 and 0.02
