Research Article Open Access

Sorption Of Para-Nitrophenol And Para-Chlorophenol Using Cross-Linked Starch Based Bio-Adsorbent: Thermodynamics, Kinetics And Column Studies

Abstract

Adsorption of organic pollutants, para-nitrophenol (pNP) and para-chlorophenol (pCIP) from aqueous solution using hexamethylene diisocynate (HMDI) cross-linked starch based adsorbent (CS3) was studied. Cross-linked starch (CS3) was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Thermodynamic studies showed that the adsorption of organic pollutants on to cross-linked starch (CS3) was spontaneous and exothermic and pseudo-second order kinetic model provided the best correlation of the experimental data. Breakthrough curves were plotted for the adsorption of pNP and pCIP using continuous flow column. Thomas model was applied for the adsorption of organic pollutants at different bed heights, flow rates and initial concentrations to predict the breakthrough curves. CS3 was capable of holding a maximum equilibrium capacity of 59.21 mg/g for pNP and 31.96 mg/g for pCIP with initial concentration of 100 mg/L, bed height 7.5 cm and flow rate of 4 mL/min. The experimental results fitted well with the Thomas model.

Deepak Kohli , Sangeeta Garg , A.K Jana , Ajay Bansal and Puniya Chopra