Sorption of Cu(II), Zn(II) and Ni(II) from aqueous solution using activated carbon prepared from olive stone waste

The performance of olive stone activated carbon (OSAC) for the sorption ofCu2+, Zn2+and Ni2+ions was investigated via batch technique. OSAC materialswere prepared under different physical activation conditions. Olive stone wastewas activated with N2 and steam at 900oC at a 3.5h hold time (OSAC-3). Thecharacterization for OSAC-3 was performed under BET-surface area, SEM,density and FTIR-spectrum. The optimum adsorption conditions were specifiedas a function of agitation time, initial metal concentration, pH, andtemperature. The kinetic results were found to be fast and described well bythe pseudo-second order model. The adsorption capacities were 25.38mg/g(Cu2+), 16.95mg/g (Zn2+) and 14.65mg/g (Ni2+) which followed the sequence Cu2+> Zn2+> Ni2+. The spontaneous adsorption for all the studied cations,endothermic nature for both Zn2+and Ni2+ions and exothermic nature for Cu2+ions were obtained. The results showed that OSAC-3 is an economically feasiblematerial for Cu2+, Zn2+and Ni2+remediation from weak acidic contaminatedeffluents.

Keywords:

Sorption , Cu(II) , Zn(II) , Ni(II) , Physically activation Olive stone