Original Articles
Sophie Beulah S and Muthukumar
Abstract
The present work focuses on the remediation of toxic Hg(II) from wastewater using ecofriendly as well as cost effective adsorbents. Syzygium jambolanum nut is locally abundant. Besides medicinal uses, it is expected to be a potential adsorbent for cleanup technology. Chemically activated Syzygium jambolanum nut carbon (CHSJC) has been developed using (NH4)2S2O8. A series of column adsorption experiments have been carried out to evaluate the effect of flow rate, bed height and the presence of salts for the removal of Hg(II) as [HgCl4]2- uptake by (CHSJC). The breakthrough capacity has found to be 5.33 mg/g. The adsorbed [HgCl4]2- could be quantitatively recovered as Hg(II) by employing alkaline Na2S. The capacity remained unaffected even after 5 cycles of operation and the treated water was found to be free from Hg(II). The efficiency of CHSJC was compared with high temperature Syzygium jambolanum nut carbon (HSJC) and commercial activated carbon (CAC).