Nature Environment and Pollution Technology

Harminder Kaur ¹, Radhe Shyam ¹, R. Amutha ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Applied Sciences, PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh-160 012, IN

Abstract

Fruit of Kigelia africana tree is cylindrical and weigh approximately 2.5 kg. A mature tree produces hundreds of fruits every year but not used for any purpose, and hence a waste material in this region. Heating dried fruit powder with 1:1 sulphuric acid at 110°C for 24 h has resulted in carbonaceous material which showed marked adsorption properties. Copper(II) adsorption capacity of this Kigelia africana fruit powder carbon material (KAFP) was found to be 21.74 mg/L and almost 90% removal was achieved by treating 100 mg of adsorbent material in 100 mL (10 mg/L) of Cu(II) solution. Adsorption data fitted well into Langmuir adsorption isotherm equation. Metal uptake was maximum at pH 7 and almost negligible at much lower pH values.

Keywords

Kigelia africana Fruit Carbon, Copper Adsorption, Langmuir Adsorption, Isotherm.

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