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Adsorption is a process where one or more components of a liquid or gas are adsorbed on
the solid surface of an adsorbent. The adsorption of a compound in an adsorbent usually happens
in a two-step process: the transport through the film to the particle’s outside surface and the
diffusion into the porous particles (Neretnieks, 1976). Adsorption can be used in the removal of
organic compounds from water or organic solutions, removal of water from hydrocarbon gases,
sulfur compounds from natural gas, solvents from air and other gases, food product decolorization
etc. Normally, adsorbents are small pellets, beads, or granules ranging from about 0.1 mm to 12
mm in size. Examples of these are, activated carbon, silica gel, activated alumina, molecular sieve
Adsorption is a very useful method in solving sludge disposal problems especially when
cheap adsorbents are used. Activated carbon are low cost and readily available adsorbents that can
be used in the removal of heavy metals from indsutrial wastewater. They have high surface areas
and microporous structures which are made by thermal decomposition of wood, vegetable shells,
coal, etc. The amount of substance that can be absorbed on activated carbon is dependent on factors
such as the nature of the substance and its concentration, the surface structure of the activated
carbon, and temperature and pH of the water (Yavuz, Orbak, & Karatepe, 2007).
Adsoprtion is usually modeled using isotherms, wherein it shows the ratio between the
quantity adsorbed and the remaining in soluion at fixed temperatures at equilibrium. The simplest
type of relationship which describes the adsorption equation are the Freundlich and the Langmuir
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Figure 1. Common types of adsorption isotherms (Source: Geankoplis, 1995)
The Langmuir isotherm assumes a uniform surface. It suggests that the adsorbate uptake
occurs by monolayer soprtion without interaction among the adsorbate and can be represented by
1 1 1
= +
𝑞𝑒 𝑄 𝑄𝑏𝐶𝑒
where qe is the adsorbate adsorbed per unit weight of adsorbent at equilibrium (mg/g), Ce is the
capacity (mg/g), and b is a constant related to free energy or net enthalpy of adsorption.
wherein the surfaces are heterogeneous thus monolayer characteristics of the surface cannot be
1
log 𝑞𝑒 = log 𝐾𝐹 + 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝐶𝑒
𝑛
where qe is the amount of adsorbate adsorbed per unit weight of adsorbent (mg/g), Ce is the
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capacity constant of the adsorbent (mg/g) and 1/n is the adsorption intensity (Muryanto &
Objectives
General: To study the adsorptive removal of Eriochrome Black T (EBT) from a solution using
Specific:
The experiment entitled Biochar Adsorption Experiment was conducted to determine the
adsorption capacity of the bamboo saw dust activated carbon from Jareol, et al.’s Special Problem
in an EBT solution with varying pH values of 4 and 6. The samples were obtained at the School
of Technology. Particle size of activated carbon was assumed to be uniform. The shaker/agitator
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from Jareol’s group was used to agitate the solutions simultaneously within twenty (20) min. An
wavelength. The filter paper used was Whatman number 2. Three replicates for each pH value
were prepared. It was assumed that surrounding temperature was at standard room temperature
reading of 250C.
Systematic error was a factor in data gathering especially on the use of the UV-VIS
spectrophotometer since the equipment used is outdated. Personal error was expected on the
preparation of solutions.
Methodology
Materials
50 ppm of EBT solution, 0.1 M of NaOH solution, 0.1 M of HCl solution, 500 g of activated
carbon, 6 filter papers, 10 mL test tubes, test tube rack, test tube brush, beaker, funnel,
spectrophotometer.
Procedure
EBT solutions of 25ppm, 50ppm, 75ppm, 100ppm, and 125ppm were prepared from a
stock solution of 200ppm. Each EBT solution was loaded into the UV-VIS spectrophotometer and
absorbance was measured. A graph of absorbance versus concentration was generated using the
data obtained.
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Figure 3. Eriochrome black T dye Figure 4. Bamboo sawdust charcoal
water. Two 200 mL of the solution were transferred in separate beakers and were labelled solution
A and B. The pH of solution A was adjusted to 4 by gradually adding 0.1M HCl, pH of solution B
was adjusted to 6 by gradually adding 0.1M NaOH. The increase or decrease in pH was monitored
using a pH meter which was calibrated by the Lab technician prior to testing.
Three 10 mL samples were taken for each pH and were set aside in a test tube rack. 0.1 g
of activated carbon was added to the 6 solutions and were securely sealed to prevent spillage during
agitation. The samples were placed in the manual shaker and were agitated simultaneously for 20
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min. The samples were individually filtered, and were loaded in the UV-VIS spectrophotometer
to measure absorbance.
Table 1 shows the different absorbance values of different EBT concentrations at 540nm
absorbance value also increases as presented in Figure 1 where it shows a linear graph having an
y = 0.0063x + 0.0748
0.8 R² = 0.9706
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
EBT Concentration (ppm)
50ppm 0.462
75ppm 0.588
100ppm 0.673
125ppm 0.834
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Figure 2 shows the % removal of EBT solution at 50ppm vs pH. At pH 4 the % removal
of the EBT solution is 0.571% and at pH 6 is 0.413%. This was calculated from the gathered data
presented in table 2. From this data, outliers can be seen and thus were not included in the
calculation since it will affect the results of the experiment. The errors may come from the
instrument used in reading the absorbance in this case the UV-VIS spectrophotometer which is
outdated, the filter paper used might have allowed small particles of activated carbon to pass
through and remain in the solution, and personal errors in preparing the solution samples.
From the results obtained, it can be inferred that at lower pH, % removal of EBT is higher.
This is consistent with the results on the study of Jareol’s group which mentioned that at pH 4
% removal of EBT vs pH
0.6
0.5
0.4
%removal
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
pH
pH 4 pH 6
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Average 0.388 0.3885
The effect of varying pH was observed and studied in the experiment. As seen in the results,
varying the pH of the EBT solution has an effect on the adsorptive removal of EBT using activated
carbon from bamboo sawdust. Solution at pH 4 has higher percent removal with 0.571 % compared
to that of pH 6 with percent removal of only 0.413%. This only validates the study done by Jareol’s
to improve data accuracy. An appropriate filter paper with pores smaller compared to the particle
size of activated carbon should be used to ensure that the filtrate is completely separated from the
residue.
References
Geankoplis, C. J. (1995). Transport Processes and Unit Operations. Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Igwe, J. C., & Abia, A. (2007). Adsoprtion isotherm studies of Cd (II), Pb (II), and Zn (II) ions
bioremediation from aqueous solution using unmodified and EDTA-modified maize cob.
Moeinpour, F., Alimoradi, A., & Kazemi, M. (2014). Efficient removal of Eriochrome black-T
from aqueous solution using NiFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles. Journal of Environmental
Health Science & Engineering.
Muryanto, S., & Djatmiko Hadi, S. (2004). Adsoprtion laboratory experiment for undergraduate
chemical engineering: Introducing kinetic, equilibrium and thermodynamic concepts .
Materials Science and Engineering.
Neretnieks, I. (1976). Analysis of Some Adsorption Experiments with Activated Carbon.
Chemical Engineering Science.
Yavuz, R., Orbak, I., & Karatepe, N. (2007). Factors affecting the adsoprtion of chromium (VI)
on activated carbon . Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A:
Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering .
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Appendix
Sample Calculation of Percent Removal
At pH 4 absorbance 0.388
𝑦 = 0.0063𝑥 + 0.0748
0.388 = 0.0063𝑥 + 0.0748
𝑥 = 49.714 𝑝𝑝𝑚
𝐶𝑖 − 𝐶𝑜 50 − 49.714
%𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑎𝑙 = 𝑥 100 = 𝑥 100 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟕𝟏%
𝐶𝑜 50
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