Original Articles
Justin Masih
Abstract
The ability of eight natural adsorbents for adsorptive removal of Chromium (VI) from aqueous solutions was investigated. Various physico-chemical parameters such as pH, initial metal ion concentration, adsorbent dose level and equilibrium contact time were optimized in batch adsorption technique. A detailed Fourier Transform Infrared spectra (FTIR) study of adsorbents and Chromium (VI) loaded adsorbents at the optimized condition was carried out to identify the different functional groups that were responsible for adsorption. It was estimated that important functional groups like hydroxyl, alkene, aromatic nitro, carboxilate anion, silicon oxide, sulphonic acid etc. were present in the natural adsorbents which were responsible for the chemical adsorption of Chromium (VI) from aqueous solutions.