Abstract:
Widespread industrial activities has caused many water bodies receiving loads of heavy metals that exceed the maximum permissible limit of wastewater discharge to protect the environment, human and animal. Environmental hazards caused by the discharged of untreated wastewater into water bodies has become a major issue of great concern. Adsorption offers the best solution since the process is cheap, fast and fewer complexes coupled with the fact that sophisticated equipments are not required to conduct the experiments. For this study, activated carbon adsorbent was prepared from cassava peels and characterized for various physical and chemical properties such as surface area, volatile matter, and moisture content. The effects of various parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, contact time, and adsorption temperature were studied to make the adsorbent more efficient for maximum adsorption. The rate of adsorption (mechanism of adsorption) was studied using the pseudo-first order Svante Arrhenius equation, Lagergren equation, and the determination of adsorption thermodynamics was done by Gibbs free energy equation. The adsorption isotherms were described by means of Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm equations. The fitness of the data was determined using the value of the coefficient (R2). The enthalpy (ΔH˚) and entropy (ΔS˚), thermodynamic constant (Kad), and standard free energy (ΔG˚) were determined for predicting the nature of adsorption. Adsorption of metal ions onto activated carbon is most effective at pH 8. Results obtained indicate the potentials of activated carbon from cassava peels as an adsorbent for effluent wastewater treatment
