Effect of Refluxing Time and Kinetics of Synthetic Organic Chemicals Removal in Aqueous Solutions by Carbons Produced from Nipa Palm Fronds

Abstract

The refluxing time is a significant consideration in synthetic study, because it could reflect the kinetics of the reaction process. Synthetic Organic Chemicals (SOCs) are man-made carbon-based compounds that are not likely to evaporate into the atmosphere and hence they could get into aquatic water bodies through terrestrial runoff or discharge from factories. Therefore, this paper investigated the effect of refluxing time and kinetics of Synthetic Organic Chemicals (SOCs) removal in aqueous solutions by carbonized and surface-modified carbons made from Nipa Palm (<i>Nypa Fruticans </i>Wurmb) fronds using chemical oxygen demand (COD) as the measurement parameter. The data showed a rapid reduction of the COD of the SOCs contaminated solutions from 30.19 to 93.46% for PCC, 27.44 to 65.58% for AAC, 41.84 to 98.22% for BAC and 56.71 to 95.16% for CAC between 10 to 60 mins. Optimum reduction was achieved within 20 min of heating the solutions at 150°C. The rapid COD reduction observed for n-propanol indicates that COD is a rapid, inexpensive means of determining organics in water. Kinetic assessment of the results showed that, pseudo-first order kinetic equation did not provide a very good description of COD reduction of the SOCs in aqueous solution by the Nipa palm derived carbons. However, Nipa palm had been adjudged as a beneficial, eco-friendly and locally available source for the development of activated carbon for elimination of organic pollutants in domestic and industrial wastewaters.