Biomass-based activated carbon has received large attention due to its excellent characteristics such as inexpensiveness, good absorption behaviour, and potential to reduce strong dependence towards non-renewable precursors. The potential use of Palm Kernel Shell in modified activated carbon was evaluated by using the Response Surface Methodology. In this study, a 23 three-level Central Composite Design (CCD) was used to develop a statistical model for the optimization of process variables, contact time (10-130mins) X1, pH (5.0 – 8.0) X2, and adsorbent dose (0.4 -5.0g) X3. The investigation shows that Ethylene Di-Amine Tetra-Acetic Acid modified activated carbon prepared from Palm Kernel Shell is a promising adsorbent for the removal of copper ions from aqueous solutions over a wide range of concentrations with an optimized efficiency of 99% at the solution pH of 7.2, contact time of 70 minutes and adsorbent dose of 2.1g/L. The adsorption results are in line with the linear and quadratic model representation, which is evident from the models for optimization of copper ions.
Preparation and Characterization of Activated Carbon from Palm Kernel Shell
