Functionalized Activated Carbon Derived from Palm Kernel Shells for the Treatment of Simulated Heavy Metal-Contaminated Water.

Rabia Baby,Zulkarnain Zainal,Mohd Zobir Hussein,Abdul Halim Abdullah

doi:10.3390/nano11113133

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination in water poses a great risk to human health as well as to the lives of other creatures. Activated carbon is a useful material to be applied for the treatment of heavy metal-contaminated water. In this study, functionalized activated carbon (FAC) was produced by the induction of nitro groups onto activated carbon using nitric acid. The resulting material was characterized in detail using the XRD, Raman, BET, FTIR, and FESEM techniques. The FAC was used for the treatment of heavy metal-contaminated water using different adsorption parameters, i.e., solution pH, contact time, adsorbent dosage and heavy metal ion concentrations, and these parameters were systematically optimized. It was found that FAC requires 90 min for the maximum adsorption of the heavy metal ions; Cr6+, Pb2+, Zn2+ and Cd2+. The kinetic study revealed that the metal ion adsorption follows the pseudo-second-order. The Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms were applied to determine the best fitting adsorption isotherm models. The adsorption capacities were also determined for each metal ion.

Highlights

The industrialization has made life easier; at the same time, it has contributed significantly to environmental pollution, i.e., water pollution, soil pollution and air pollution [1,2,3]
Discussion carbon with a surface area of 1099 m2/g was selected for the function3.1
The activated carbon with a surface area of 1099 m2 /g was selected for the functionalwith nitric acid resulted in the functionalization of the functionalized activated carbon (FAC) samization with percentage concentrations of nitric acid; 10,activated

Summary

Introduction

The industrialization has made life easier; at the same time, it has contributed significantly to environmental pollution, i.e., water pollution, soil pollution and air pollution [1,2,3]. There are many sources of water contaminants; bacteria, viruses, organic compounds, organic dyes, and heavy metal ions such as cadmium, chromium, zinc, arsenic and mercury. Heavy metal contaminants are non-biodegradable, causing immense risk to humans and other living creatures. These heavy metals accumulate in the body and harm health, such as through kidney damage, cancer, hepatitis, anemia, miscarriages, nephritic syndrome and encephalopathy, etc. Lead (Pb2+ ) enters into the environment from metal mining industries, lead-acid batteries, glass, paper, and polishing industries. Cadmium (Cd2+ ) enters the water from electroplating, batteries and photovoltaic cells, fabric factories and metal [7,8,9,10]. Zinc (Zn2+ ) enters the water from mining activities and industrial waste

Methods

Results

Conclusion