Adsorption of Hexavalent Chromium from Aqueous Solution using Various Adsorbents

Abstract

The removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solution by batch adsorption technique using different low-cost adsorbents was investigated. The objective of the study was to find out a suitable low cost, environmental friendly and highly effective adsorbent. In the present study different low cost adsorbents such as bauxite, sawdust and sweet water weed were used to determine the adsorption efficiency. All these adsorbents were used as such or after pretreatment. Among all, the pretreated materials were found to be better adsorbents as compared to untreated materials. The influence of agitation speed, pH, temperature, adsorbent dose, initial adsorbate concentration and contact time on the selectivity and sensitivity of the removal process were investigated. The physico-chemical properties of all the adsorbents were studied using different characterization techniques such as FTIR, SEM, XRD, BET surface area and porosity. Effect of agitation speeds on the Cr(VI) adsorption capacity of the adsorbe...