Effect of Apricot Stone Activated Carbon Adsorbent on the Removal of Toxic Heavy Metals Ions from Aqueous Solutions

Abeer El-Saharty

doi:10.11648/j.ijee.20180302.13

Abstract

In this work, activated carbon was prepared from apricot stone (ASAC) waste to remove the toxic heavy metal ions (Aluminum ions and zinc ions) from aqueous solutions. The effect of different parameters such as PHs, adsorbent dose, the initial heavy metal ions concentration and contact time were investigated. Adsorption isotherm, kinetics and thermodynamics of metal ions on ASAC were studied. Equilibrium data were fitted to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Langmuir isotherm provided the best fit to the equilibrium data with maximum adsorption capacity. Kinetic studies were also undertaken in terms of pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second-order kinetic models for heavy metal ions on ASAC. The adsorption process follows the pseudo- second order kinetic with high coefficients correlation. The thermodynamic parameters ∆G°, ∆H° and ∆S° determined, showed that the adsorption of heavy metal ions onto ASAC was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic. The results showed that ASAC is an efficient adsorbent for the adsorptive removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous solutions.

Highlights

The awareness of increasing water pollution implying studies concerning water treatment and the use of removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater is of primary importance. natural materials that are available in large quantities or certain waste from agricultural processes may have potential to use low cost adsorbents, as they represent unused resources, widely available and are environmentally friendly [1]
From the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) analysis, it is clear that some surface functional groups are present on the activated carbon was prepared from apricot stone (ASAC) that might be involved in the heavy metal ions adsorption process
The present investigation showed that waste of apricot stones can be effectively used as a raw material for the preparation of activated carbon for removal of aluminum and zinc ions from aqueous solutions

Summary

Introduction

The awareness of increasing water pollution implying studies concerning water treatment and the use of removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater is of primary importance. natural materials that are available in large quantities or certain waste from agricultural processes may have potential to use low cost adsorbents, as they represent unused resources, widely available and are environmentally friendly [1]. The awareness of increasing water pollution implying studies concerning water treatment and the use of removal of heavy metals from industrial wastewater is of primary importance. Among the Aluminum- and zinc poisoning in humans cause severe dysfunction of the kidneys, reproductive system, liver, and brain and central nervous system [3]. Heavy doses of zinc salt (165mg) causes vomiting renal damage and cramps, while (Al+3) is toxic especially for brain, sometimes maglev to Alzheimer’s diseases in humans (4). To remove heavy metals effectively from metal laden wastewater, engineers and scientists have developed processes and measurements for the treatment and disposal of metal-containing wastes, namely, chemical precipitation, ion exchange, membrane separation and adsorption [5,6,7,8].

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Conclusion