SYNTHESIS OF ACTIVATED CARBON DERIVED FROM TREE BARK (Acacia hybrids) AND ITS APPLICATION FOR THE ADSORPTION OF Cd (II) FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract

In this study, acacia hybrids bark was used as a precursor to prepare the activated carbon. The
preparation process includes impregnation with HNO3 1M solution for 24 hours, then carbonization at
500o
C for 3 hours, then activation with KOH at 700o
C for 2 hours. The morphology and phase structure of
ACK materials were analyzed based on X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning
electron microscopy (SEM). The nitrogen adsorption-desorption process was used to determine the
surface area (Brunauer - Emmett - Teller (BET)), mesopore volume and average pore diameter
respectively as 683m2
/g; 0.29cm³/g and 43nm. The adsorption characteristic and Cd (II) removal
efficiency of the adsorbent have been determined by investigating the influence of operating variables
such as dosage of ACK. The maximum Cd (II) sorption capacity was found to be 29.4mg/g and obtained
using 0.20g/50mL ACK when pH = 5, temperature of 28°C, and contact time as 24 hours. The Langmuir
and Freundlich models were used to fit the experimental data, and these showed good correlations.