Adsorption of Cd(II) from Aqueous Solution by Activated Carbon Prepared from Vitex negundo Stem

A Arun Kumar, T Chandrasekaran

Abstract

This study reports the removal of cadmium from wastewater in batch mode, using Vitex Negundo stem. The activated carbon prepared from VNC modified with activating agent H2SO4. The adsorbents were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX).The results of batch experiment showed that the cadmium removal was dependent on pH, Cd(II) ion concentration, adsorbent dose, size and temperature. The highest cadmium adsorption was found at pH = 6.0, initial Cd(II) concentration = 100 mg/L, adsorbent dose = 200mg, size= 0-53μ at temperature= 33±20C. The optimum conditions for adsorption studies are calculated and it concludes that the activated carbon exhibits a good adsorption potential for cadmium ions. The results indicate that the carbon prepared from VNC-1 activated could be used to effectively adsorb Cd (II) ions from aqueous solutions.