Adsorption characteristics of Nitrate from polluted water by activated carbon prepared from a novel biomass waste

In the present study, the activated carbon were prepared from Olea europaea leaves (OLAC) as a novel biomass waste by chemical activation and the resulting biosorbent were used to remove nitrate from aqueous solutions. In chemical activation, H3PO4 was used as chemical agent. The microstructure of the activated carbons was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The prepared OLAC was used for removal of nitrate from aqueous solution by theadsorption process in batch operation. The effects of dose of adsorbent, initial solution concentration, contacttime and temperature on the uptake of nitrate anion were examined. In kinetic survey, pseudo-second-order kinetic model showed the best fit to the experimental adsorption data. Isotherm studies were carried out and the data were further analyzed by Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin equations. The nitrate sorption data has been well fitted using Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum nitrate adsorption capacity of OLAC was found to be 133.3 mg g-1, which shows a desirable maximum capacity of adsorption in comparison with the other similar adsorbents.

Keywords:

Adsorption , Nitrate removal , Biomass waste , Activated carbon , Olea europaea leaves