ADSORPTIVE REMOVAL OF 2,4-DICHLOROPHENOL FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTION USING APRICOT STONES BASED ACTIVATED CARBON

Abstract

The activated carbon was prepared from carbonaceous agricultural waste Apricot Stones by chemical activation using concentrated H2SO4 at 130±5 -C. The prepared activated carbon was characterized and was found as an effective adsorbent material. In order to test the efficacy of Apricot Stones based activated carbon (ASAC), batch experiments were performed to carry out the adsorption studies on ASAC for the removal of highly toxic pollutant 2,4-Dichlorophenol from aqueous solution. For ASAC, the predictive capabilities of two types of kinetic models and six types of adsorption equilibrium isotherm models were examined. The effect of pH of solution, adsorbent dose, temperature and initial 2,4-dichlorophenol concentration on adsorption behaviour was investigated, as well. Thermodynamic study showed that adsorption of 2,4-DCP on ASAC was spontaneous. The change in entropy (AS°) and heat of adsorption (OH°) of apricot stones was estimated as 14.99 J/mol/k and 4.020 kJ/mol, respectively. The adsorption on ASAC was found to follow pseudo-second order kinetics and showed better fit with correlation co-efficient as 0.99. Freudlich, Redlich-Peterson and Fritz-Schlunder models were appropriate for the current experimental data.