UTILIZATION OF ACTIVATED CARBON PREPARED FROM INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE FOR THE REMOVAL OF CHROMIUM(VI) IONS FROM SYNTHETIC SOLUTION AND INDUSTRIAL EFFLUENT

Abstract

Activated carbon (AC) prepared from sago waste was character-ized and used to remove chromium(VI) ions from aqueous solution andindustrial effluent by adsorption methods using various conditions of agitationtime, metal ion concentration, adsorbent dosage particle size and pH. Surfacemodification of the carbon adsorbent with a strong oxidizing agent like concen-trated H2SO4 generates more active adsorption sites on the solid surface andpores for metal ion adsorption.Adsorption of the metal ion required a very short time and led to quantitativeremoval. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models could describe theadsorption data. The calculated values of Q0and b were 5.78 mg/g and 1.75 1/min,respectively. An effective adsorption capacity was noted for particle sizes in therange 125–250 μm at room temperature (30 ±2°C) and an initial pH of 2.0 ±0.2.The specific surface area of the activated carbon was determined and itsproperties studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transforminfrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). These studies revealed that AC prepared fromsago waste is suitable for the removal of Cr(VI) ions from both synthetic andindustrial effluents.