Adsorption of Chromium Ions by Acid Activated Low Cost Carbon-Kinetic, Thermodynamic and Equilibrium Studies

A carbonaceous adsorbent prepared from an indigenous waste, by acid treatment was tested for its efficiency in removing metal ions. The process parameters studied include agitation time, initial metal ions concentration, carbon dose, pH and temperature. The adsorption followed first order reaction equation and the rate is mainly controlled by intra-particle diffusion. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were applied to the equilibrium data. The adsorption capacity (Q(m)) obtained from the Langmuir isotherm plot were found to around 30 mg/g at an initial pH of 7.0. The temperature variation study showed that the metal ions adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous with increased randomness at the solid solution interface. Significant effect on adsorption was observed on varying the pH of the metal ion solutions. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms obtained, positive Delta H-0 value, pH dependent results and desorption of metal ions in mineral acid suggest that the adsorption of metal ions on BBC involves chemisorption as well as physisorption mechanism.