Author(s)

Pushpa Jha

Abstract

A vast amount of biomass is produced by India in the form of waste products from agriculture and forests. To solve the problem of waste disposal, they need to be put to good use. As a carbon source, biomass can be used to make low-cost phenol adsorbents. Three biomasses were chosen for investigation: the Acacia nilotica branches (AC), the Lantana camera (LA) and the rice husk (RI). Because the amount of phenol removed by these biomasses was small, they had to be activated through a thermo- chemical process. As a result, their characteristics as adsorbents improved tremendously. They were named activated AC (ACC), LA (LAC), and RI (RIC). The percentage removal of phenol by these adsorbents improved dramatically. Phenol removal by ACC was highest with a value of 97% removal. Further adsorption studies were focused on ACC. Scanning electron microstructure studies were applied to observe the change in the structure of the adsorbent after activation. Fourier transform infrared analysis showed the significant adsorption of phenol on the adsorbent. Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin models were used to examine the mechanism of the adsorption process.

Keywords

Acacia nilotica branches, activated char, adsorption, biomasses, phenol.