Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment___________________________________ Vol.

17 (5) May (2013)

Res. J. Chem. Environ.
(19)

Adsorption Batch Studies on the Removal of Cadmium
using Wood of Derris Indica based Activated Carbon
Venkatesan G.
1
* and Senthilnathan U.
2

1. Department of Civil Engineering, University College of Engineering, BIT Campus, Anna University, Tiruchirapalli, INDIA
2. Department of Civil Engineering, M.A.M. College of Engineering and Technology, Tiruchirapalli, INDIA
*gvenkat1972@gmail.com

Abstract
Activated carbon has been prepared from wood of
Derris indica. Its adsorption capability in removal of
cadmium from wastewater has been investigated
through batch adsorption experiments. The adsorption
kinetics of this carbon for various parameters like
adsorbent dosage and contact time of the cadmium
ion were studied. The cadmium adsorption behavior
and the effect of the initial cadmium concentration on
removal efficiency were also examined. The optimum
dosage of wood of derris indica based activated
carbon to remove 80 mg/L of cadmium from aqueous
solution 0.5gms/150 mL and the optimum contact time
was 20 minutes. The isotherm data confirm with both
Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models.

Keywords: Adsorbents, Wastewater treatment, Cadmium,
Derris indica, Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms.

Introduction
Heavy metals are one of the poisonous substances that are
present in water. Industries such as electroplating industry,
dye industry, metal finishing industry and chemical
manufacturing units are the principal sources of
discharging poisonous heavy metals. Moreover heavy
metals are biologically non degradable and remain on earth
for long time. The concentration of the heavy metals must
be lessened to permissible limits before they are discharged
into environment or else it will cause a danger to health of
human beings, animals and plants when they consume the
water which is mixed with heavy metals.

The ill effects of heavy metals on human being, animals
and plants vary from time to time depending on the
concentration and individual fitness. Human beings take
the poisonous metals through contaminated food and
drinking water. Large number of treatment methods is
available for the removed of cadmium from industrial
waste water. They are chemical precipitation, ion exchange,
filtration, membrane separation, adsorption, oxidation and
reduction. Out of all the methods, adsorption is found to be
effective and of low cost. There are so many agricultural
waste materials which are having least economical value
and are used as adsorbents.

Activated carbon are prepared using almond shell
16
,
granualar activated carbon prepared from saw dust
5
, nut
shells
1
coffee bean
10
, corpith
11
, pea nut shells
12
, ceiba
pentandra hulls
15
, terminalia arjuna nuts with zinc
chloride
18
, plant leaves
22
, neem bark
28
and sugar cane
bagasse
30
.


Although commercial activated carbon is used world wide
for the adsorption of heavy metals, the cost of commercial
activated carbon keeps the industries away from the
treatment of poisonous waste water. This happens mainly
in developing countries and under developing countries.
Hence there is a need to make activated carbon which is
cheap in cost and should be availability locally. Though
various researches suggested different low cost adsorbents,
still there is a necessity to derive a proper adsorbent for the
removal of cadmium from waste water.

Experiments were conducted in removal of cadmium from
aqueous solutions using activated carbon derived from
Derris Indica which is available in rural areas of south
India. Derris Indica is of no medical use and it is having
least economic value and hence it is considered as an
agricultural waste material.

Material and Methods
Preparation of activated carbon: Derris Indica is a waste
plant available at all areas in south India especially
Tamilnadu. These waste plants are collected and their size
was reduced by breaking into small particles. It was then
dried in oven at a temperature of 170 C for 24 hrs. It was
then packed in an air tight cylindrical iron container with
top completely sealed with iron cover to prevent the entry
of air during the process of charring. The sealed iron
constrain was heated in a muffle furnace by slowly raising
the temperature up to 600C and maintaining the same for
1 hr. during this process, wood of Derris Indica was
converted into char. This char was broken down into
smaller pieces and sieved with 500-710 micron sieve.
Activated carbon remaining in the sieve was subsequently
washed in distilled water; oven dried and packed in a
polythene cover kept in an air tight container for further
experiments.

Preparation of Synthetic Solution: Synthetic solution of
80 mg/L cadmium concentration was prepared by
dissolving 143.27 mg of Cd salt in distilled water.
Synthetic solution of 80 mg/L thus prepared was used for
all experiments.

Experimental Procedure: To find the optimum dosage
and optimum time for the removal of cadmium using wood
of Derris Indica, 8 conical flasks containing 150mL of 80
mg/L cadmium solution were taken. 0.1g, 0.2g, 0.3g, 0.4g,
Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment___________________________________ Vol.17 (5) May (2013)
Res. J. Chem. Environ.
(20)

0.5g, 0.6g, 0.7g and 0.8g of wood of Derris Indica based
activated carbon was added in each flask. These conical
flask were kept in magnetic stirrer for agitation. Sample
was taken out at the intervals of 5min, 10min, 15min,
20min, 25min and 30min. Samples taken out were kept in
the test tube after filtering that same using Whatmann filter
paper No.41. The unadsorbed metal ions were estimated by
UV spectrophotometer. The pH of the solution is another
set of experiments done to find out optimum pH by
adjusting with NaOH and HCl

Effect of initial concentration was conducted to find out
maximum concentration that can be removed at optimum
dosage. Optimum discharge, optimum contact time,
optimum pH for the removal of cadmium using Derris
indica were found. All the above said experiments were
done at 201
0
C .

Instrumentation: Systrons 2202 double beam spectro
photometer was used to analyze the concentration of heavy
metals. The least detection limit was within EPA
requirement. Standard solution with different concentration
of cadmium was used to calibrate the instrument. Whole
analysis was repeated 2 times and the results which have
standard deviations greater than 0.1 mg/l were omitted. The
pH meter (EGCO) was used for all pH measurements. The
pH meter was calibrated by using buffer solutions of values
4 and 7. Magnetic stirrer (KMS 450) was used for agitating
all samples for desired time.

Chemicals: Chemicals such as concentrated hydrochloric
acid and Sodium Hydroxide (Madras Scientific Company)
were used in adjusting the pH of the sample. Distilled
demineralized water was used in all experiments.

Adsorption Isotherms: Adsorption Isotherms that are
commonly used to describe the experimental isotherm data
are:

a) Freundlich Isotherm
b) Langmuir Isotherm

The general form of Freundlich equation is:

Log (X/m) = log K
F
+ 1/n (Log C
e
) (A)

where X/m = amount adsorbed per unit weight of adsorbent
and C
e
= equilibrium concentration of adsorbate in solution
after adsorption, K
F
, n = empirical constants.

The Langmuir equation is shown as:

1/(X/m) = 1/q
m
+ 1/K
a
*q
m
(1/c
e
) (B)

where X/m = amount adsorbed per unit weight of
adsorbent, K
A
, q
m
= constants and c
e
= equilibrium
concentration of adsorbate in solution after adsorption
(mg/L).

Results and Discussion
Effect of dosage: Raise in quantity of activated carbon
increases the deduction percentage of cadmium. This was
due to extra surface area existing and more surface
functional groups. The result of dosage for the removal of
Cadmium ion is demonstrated in fig. 1. It is clear from the
figure that the removal percentage increases with raise in
dosage. After certain time it is found that the percentage
removal reaches equilibrium and the removal percentage
was fractional deviation from one another. It was studied
that up to a carbon concentration of 0.4 gm/150 ml the
removal of cadmium is varying and at 0.5 g/150 ml of
carbon concentration the cadmium ion removal was
significant around 87.50% and from there onwards the
percentage of cadmium ion removal is slightly varying and
equilibrium is almost achieved at 0.5 g/150ml at a optimum
time of 20 minutes.

Table 1
Effect of dosage on cadmium removal

S.N. Contact Time % of cd removal for 150ml
0.1g 0.2g 0.3g 0.4g 0.5g 0.6g 0.7g 0.8g
1 5 18.38 37.46 69.12 82.75 83.25 85.37 86.25 87.00
2 10 29.50 45.25 74.25 86.37 86.62 86.87 87.32 90.25
3 15 30.86 45.37 74.38 86.87 87.25 87.35 87.62 90.37
4 20 31.50 45.63 74.63 87.50 87.62 87.62 88.75 90.37
5 25 31.75 45.50 75.12 87.62 88.25 88.25 89.12 90.75
6 30 32.38 46.00 75.25 87.87 88.62 88.62 89.50 91.25

Table 2
Effect of dosage on cadmium removal at equilibrium
Weight of adsorbent added in g/150 mL 0.1g 0.2g 0.3g 0.4g 0.5g 0.6g 0.7g 0.8g
% of Cadmium removal 31.50 45.63 74.63 87.50 87.62 87.62 88.75 90.37
Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment___________________________________ Vol.17 (5) May (2013)
Res. J. Chem. Environ.
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Fig. 1: Dosage versus percentage removal of cadmium


Fig. 2: Optimum pH versus percentage removal of cadmium

Effect of pH: pH is one of the most important parameters
that controls the uptake of cadmium from waste water.Fig.2
shows the effect of pH on cadmium (II) removal
efficiencies of Derris Indica wood based activated carbon.
The study was conducted with a solution of 80 mg/L
cadmium concentration, adsorbent dose of 0.5gms with
varying pH from 1 to 8. From the figure it is understood
that the removal percentage increases with increase of pH
and at certain point removal percentage comes to steady
state. It was found that the percentage removal was almost
same from pH 3 to 8. Hence optimum pH

for the removal
was 7.37 (Original pH) at optimum contact time of 20
minutes. Hence all the experiments were conducted at
original pH

itself.

Effect of Initial Concentration: To illustrate the cadmium
adsorption at different concentrations, solutions of 10mg/l,
20mg/l, 30mg/l, 40mg/l, 60mg/l, 70mg/l & 80mg/l were
used. The samples were monitored for residual cadmium
concentration at interval of 5 minutes up to the contact time
of 30 minutes. The data obtained are given in fig. 3. To
illustrate the cadmium adsorption at different
concentrations a graph was plotted between contact time
Vs % removal of cadmium. From the graph it is observed
that initial concentration has marked influence on
adsorption potential. The percentage of cadmium removal
from 40mg/L to 80 mg/L was almost same with slight
differences. So we can use wood of Derris Indica based
activated carbon for the removal of cadmium upto 80mg/l.

Isotherm study: A fixed volume (150mL) of synthetic
Cadmium solution was equilibrated with different dosages
of wood of derris indica based activated carbon (0.1g, 0.2g,
0.3g, 0.4g,0.5g, 0.6g, 0.7g, 0.8g) for 20 minutes. The
equilibrium state cadmium concentrations were found out
from each of 8 reactors. The data necessary for isotherm
plot for wood of derris indica based activated carbon are
given in table 3 (Langmuir isotherm) and table 4
(Freundlich isotherm). The isotherm test data were found to
fit with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. While
readings were plotted in Langmuir isotherm model and
Freundlich isotherm model, it was found that R
L
value is
0.45 and n = 0.475, which are favourable for adsorption of
cadmium uptake.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 10 20 30 40
%

R
e
m
o
v
a
l
Time (mins)
Dosage Vs % Removal
0.1 g/150mL
0.2 g/150mL
0.3 g/150mL
0.4 g/150mL
0.5 g/150mL
0.6g/150mL
0.7g/150mL
0.8 g/150mL
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 10 20 30 40
%

R
e
m
o
v
a
l
Time(Mins)
pH Vs % Removal
pH 1
pH 2
pH 3
pH 4
pH 5
pH 6
pH 7.37(Original pH)
Dosage Vs% Removal
pH Vs% Removal
Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment___________________________________ Vol.17 (5) May (2013)
Res. J. Chem. Environ.
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Fig. 3: Optimum Concentration versus percentage removal of cadmium

Table 3
Data for Langmuir isotherm for cadmium removal

1/Ce(L/mg) X/m(g/kg) [1/(x/m)] (kg/g)
0.018248 0.03778 26.46903
0.022989 0.02736 36.54971
0.049261 0.02983 33.5233
0.1 0.02623 38.12429
0.10101 0.02102 47.57374
0.10101 0.02102 47.57374
0.111111 0.01520 65.78947
0.12987 0.01355 73.80074




Figure 4: Langmuir isotherm for cadmium removal

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
%

R
e
m
o
v
a
l
Time(Mins)
Concentration Vs % Removal
10 mg/L
20 mg/L
30mg/L
40 mg/L
50mg/L
60 mg/L
70 mg/L
80 mg/L
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
0 0.05 0.1 0.15
1/(C
e
)
1/(x/
Concentration Vs% Removal
Research Journal of Chemistry and Environment___________________________________ Vol.17 (5) May (2013)
Res. J. Chem. Environ.
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Table 4
Data for Freundlich isotherm for cadmium removal
X/m * 10
-3
Log Ce Log (x/m)
3.78E-05 1.738780558 -1.42273805
2.74E-05 1.638489257 -1.56288391
2.98E-05 1.307496038 -1.52529822
2.62E-05 1 -1.58107755
2.1E-05 0.995635195 -1.67736729
1.75E-05 0.995635195 -1.75654853
1.52E-05 0.954242509 -1.81795237
1.36E-05 0.886490725 -1.8680607


Figure 5: Freundlich isotherm for cadmium removal

Conclusion
The following conclusions were drawn from the present
studies on cadmium removal efficiency on wood of derris
indica based activated carbon.

1. For the wood of Derris indica based activated carbon the
percentage of cadmium removal increases with increasing
in pH. But there is no appreciable change from pH 3 to pH
8. The change in percentage removal was almost same with
minor deviations. So the experiments were conducted in
original pH itself.

2. Optimum dosage for the removal of 80 ppm cadmium in
aqueous solution is 0.5g/150 mL at an optimum contact
time of 20 minutes.

3. From the isotherm study, it is observed that wood of
derris indica based activated carbon confirms Langmuir
and Freundlich isotherm models.

4. No physical or chemical alterations were carried out in
derris indica based activated carbon .This may be modified
with steam activation or acid treatment for better results.

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(Received 26
th
December 2012, accepted 15
th
March 2013)