Use of orange peel as an adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) from its aqueous solution

Abstract

The adsorption of Cr(VI) on activated carbon of orange peel (waste material) has been studied. Orange peel after carbonization and acid activation respectively, is found to be highly suitable for the removal of Cr(VI) from its aqueous solution. The effects of adsorbents surface, <em>p</em>H change, concentration of Cr(VI), adsorbent dosages and contact time on Cr(VI) removal have been studied. FTIR, BET and SEM analysis are used to characterize the adsorbent. The UV-Visible spectrophotometric technique is used for the estimation of concentration of Cr(VI) after adsorption. The equilibrium data are applied on Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and the values of their corresponding constants are evaluated from the slopes and intercepts of their respective plots. The kinetic data are analyzed using the pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order equations. The results show that the activated carbon of orange peel (ACOP) can be utilized as a low-cost adsorbent for the removal of Cr(VI) ions from its aqueous solution. It’s easy availability and abundance makes it a strong choice in the investigation of economic way of metal removal.