Removal of nitrobenzene from water using activated carbon prepared from water hyacinth

Abstract

The prevailing study is of the adsorption efficiency of nitrobenzene onto the activated carbon prepared from the water hyacinth by phosphoric acid activation under the considerations of effect of pH (2,4,6,8,10 and 12) of nitrobenzene sample and consequence of initial concentration (20,100 and 200mg L−1) and contact time. The samples were analysed in high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The outcome shows that the change in pH of the nitrobenzene sample does not impact the adsorption capacity or adsorption rate. But whereas, the increase in original concentration of nitrobenzene has shown that the adsorption of nitrobenzene was rapid at initial stages and gradually increased with time till the stability is reached with the adsorption values of 19.3, 84.7 and 158.3 for initial concentrations of 20,100 and 200mg g−1 respectively. This study indicates that activated carbon formulated from water hyacinth is efficient for the removal of the nitrobenzene from the water.