REMOVAL OF DYES USING LOW COST

ADSORBENT

A Major Project in partial fulfilment of the

Requirements for the degree of

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY

IN

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Submitted by

SHASHANK SINGH (191117036)

GANESH NATERIYA (191117005)

KAPIL RAI (191117029)

Supervisor

Dr. Rupak Kishor

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

MAULANA AZAD NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, BHOPAL

December 2022
i
 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATES

We hereby declare the project work entitled ‘Removal of dyes

using low cost adsorbent’ is our own work conducted under the
guidance of Dr Rupak Kishor, Department of Chemical
Engineering, MANIT, Bhopal.
We further declare, to the best of our knowledge that the report
does not contain any part of any work that has been submitted for
the award of any degree either in this institute or in any other
university without proper citation.

SHASHANK SINGH (191117036)

GANESH NATERIYA (191117005)

KAPIL RAI (191117029)

This is to certify that the declaration made above by the candidate is

true to the best of our knowledge.

Dr. Rupak Kishor

(Department of Chemical Engineering)

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our deepest thanks to Dr. Rupak Kishor, the guide of the project for
guiding and correcting us at all stages of development of this project
with attention and care.
Beside our guide we would like to thank our faculty members for
providing us the much-needed support and encouragement.
Lastly, we would also like to express our deep appreciation towards
our classmates without whom this project would have been a distant
reality.

iii
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that following students has satisfactorily carried out

some research at home and submitted the report of ‘Removal of
dyes using low cost adsorbent’ in final year of Bachelors of
Technology in Chemical engineering. It is a genuine piece of work,
carried out by them under my supervision.

SCHOOLAR NO NAME SIGNATURE

191117036 SHASHANK SINGH

191117005 GANESH NATERIYA

191117029 KAPIL RAI

Dr. Rupak Kishor

(Department of Chemical Engineering)

iv
 ABSTRACT

The present work was aimed to study the treatment of wastewaters containing
heavy metals, dyes and pharmaceuticals using activated carbons prepared from
fish scale. Dyes are an important class of pollutants, and can even be identified
by the human eye. Disposal of dyes in precious water resources must be
avoided, however, and for that various treatment technologies are in use. Among
various methods, adsorption occupies a prominent place in dye removal. Bio
sorption is a cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternative to other
treatment technologies including the use of very popular activated carbon
adsorption. Activated carbon is a porous material that has been in many
important ages of the human history. Biomass sources have become important
materials to produce it because their use produces many benefits, mainly
environmental. Nowadays, it is possible to find numerous research papers
devoted to the synthesis characterization and applications of novel precursors to
produce activated carbon.The growing demand for efficient and low-cost
treatment methods and the importance of adsorption has given rise to low-cost
alternative adsorbents. The present work provides a summary of research works
outlining the use of fish scale precursors to obtain activated carbons. Finally, the
application of these materials in adsorption of heavy metals, dyes is also
included.

v
 CONTENTS
Declaration ii
Acknowledgement iii
Certificate iv
Abstract v
Contents vi
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1-5
1.1 Waste Water Management 1
1.2 Bio-Sorption 2
1.3 Activated Carbon 2
1.4 Fish Scale as Activated Carbon Precursor 4
1.5 Objective 5
Chapter 2: LITRETURE REVIEW 6-13
2.1 Activation of Biomass 6
2.1(a) Carbonization/Pyrolysis 6
2.1(b) Physical Activation 7
2.1(c) Chemical Activation 8
2.2 Adsorption 10
2.2(a) Adsorption Principles 10
2.2(b) Basics on Dyes 11
2.2(b) Review on some recent work on Dyes 11
Chapter 3: MATERIALS AND METHODS 14-18
3.1 Starting Material 14
3.2 Activation Procedure 16
3.3 Result and Discussion 18
Chapter 3: FUTURE WORK 19
Chapter 4: CONCLUSION 20
Chapter 5: REFERENCES 21

vi
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Waste Water Management

Achieving sustainable water management in an integrated and cross-cutting

manner is one of the most significant challenges facing many countries.
Sustainable water management includes a metric for wastewater treatment,
which is vital in successfully managing wastewater and, ultimately, water
quality. However, water contamination from different pollutants such as
dyes has become a major environmental and health problem that poses a
threat to society and living organisms. The high concentration of dyes in
natural water sources and industrial wastewater streams is a critical issue
faced by many countries. The dyes are notorious for their persistence, high
toxicity, and carcinogenic impurities. They also bio accumulate in the food
chain and, hence, the human body. In recent studies, numerous toxic
chemicals have been detected in drinking water at dangerous levels in many
parts of the world. The most common toxic pollutants are harmful chemicals
and dyes in wastewater produced by heavy industries and other human
activities that must be treated before discharged to the environment.
Treatment must be accomplished using techniques that are robust,
economically feasible, and environmentally friendly.
Worldwide, environmental scientists’ focus has been developing efficient
and sustainable technologies for water and wastewater management. To
overcome the shortcomings of more traditional approaches, cheaper and
more efficient techniques to improve the quality of treated effluent have
been proposed. Some of the widely used methods include adsorption,
membrane filtration, coagulation and flocculation, chemical precipitation,
ion exchange, electrochemical removal, bio sorption, reverse osmosis, and
oxidation processes. However, most of those methods involve high
operational and maintenance costs. Among the techniques mentioned, the
adsorption process using local bio wastes is a cost-effective and efficient
technique for removing toxic dyes and metal ions from wastewater. Dyes are
widely used in textile, food, printing, leather, and pharmacology industries.
1
The presence of dyes in aqueous solutions and the environment can affect
the photosynthetic functions of plants in water by blocking the sunlight with
its aromatic compounds and reducing dissolved oxygen. Plus, some dyes,
especially cationic and anionic, are also carcinogenic and mutagenic that can
affect digestive tract irritation, skin irritation, and cyanosis. In addition,
cationic dyes and anionic dyes are the most widely used dyes in industries.
Thus, it is crucial to control the release of these compounds to the
environment.

1.2 Bio-sorption
One of the recent trends in wastewater treatment by the adsorption is the
utilization of living and non-living biomass; this is known as bio sorption.
Bio sorption can be defined as the removal of substances from solution by
biological material. Techniques and mechanisms involved in the process
have been examined. Bio sorption describes the removal of heavy metals by
the passive binding to non-living biomass from an aqueous solution and the
mechanism is not metabolically controlled.
Bio sorption can be defined as the uptake of chemical species from aqueous
solutions onto biological materials via any of, biological, physical and
chemical mechanisms. An example is the ability of biological materials to
accumulate heavy metals from wastewater through metabolically mediated
or physio-chemical pathways of uptake. It could also be the passive binding
of heavy metals to non-living cells. The bio sorption process can been used
to remove heavy metals, dyes, phenolic, and pesticides from aqueous
solutions.

1.3 Activated Carbon

Presence of activated carbon into the human history extends so far back in
time that its origin is impossible to be accurately determined. Prior to the use
of what today is called activated carbon, either wood char, or coal char or
simply a partially devolatilized carbonaceous material, was employed as an
adsorbent. (P. González-García et al.,2017) The first recorded case dates

2
back to 3750 BCE, when both the Egyptians and Sumerians used wood char
for the reduction of copper, zinc and tin ores in the manufacturing of bronze,
and also as a smokeless fuel . The first proof of the medicinal use of carbon
was found in Thebes (Greece), in a papyrus document from 1550 BCE. Later
on, Hippocrates (around 400 BCE), recommended that water should be
filtered with wood char prior to consumption to eliminate bad taste and
odour and to prevent several diseases, including epilepsy, chlorosis and
anthrax.

The first reported application of activated carbons, as a gas phase adsorbent,

took place until 1793, when (M. Olivares-Marı´n et al.,2005) Dr. D.M. Kehl
applied wood char in order to mitigate the odours emanating from gangrene.
The first application of activated carbon in the industrial sector was in
England in 1794, when it was used as a decolorizing agent in the sugar
production industry. The first large scale gas-phase application of activated
carbon took place in the mid-19th century. In 1854, the Mayor of London
ordered the installation of wood char filters in all the sewer ventilation
systems to remove nasty odours. In 1872, gas masks with carbon filters were
used in chemical industries to prevent inhalation of mercury vapours.

The rapid development of modern society over the 20th century promoted a
fast growing production and utilization of activated carbon, especially in the
second half of the last century due to the stricter environmental regulations
regarding water resources, clean gas application, air quality control, energy
storage/conversion and economic recovery of valued chemicals. In addition,
the search of an alternative use for several agro industrial wastes, besides the
replacement of petroleum-derived products, has proposed the use of these
lignocellulosic products and other sources of waste biomass for the
production of activated carbons. In this sense, it is well known that wood
and coconut shells are the most common precursors for the largescale
synthesis of activated carbon, yielding to a global production of more than
300,000 tons/year. However, this is just a small fraction of the worldwide
demand of 12,804,000 tons of activated carbon consumed just in 2015.

3
On the other hand, scientific production in carbon materials during last 20
years has been very active. A recent search conducted in Scopus, for the
present manuscript, resulted in approximately 193,250 papers related to the
next seven materials: activated carbon, graphite, graphene, carbon
nanotubes, fullerenes, carbon fibres and carbon black. For all these reasons,
and with the incipient interest in the use, or reuse, of biomass waste as
precursors of activated carbon, the present work summarizes the processes
of synthesis, the techniques for the analysis of the physicochemical,
microstructural and textural properties, besides the most common
applications.

1.4 Fish scale as Activated Carbon Precursors

Activated carbon is a common term used to describe carbon-based materials
that have developed high surface area, an internal porous structure, as well
as a wide spectrum of oxygenated functional groups. Another characteristic
of activated carbons that has reached a significant importance is the wide
variety of materials, reported in the scientific literature, selected as carbon
precursors; since their physicochemical characteristics, besides the
preparation method, are responsible for carbon adsorption properties, micro-
nanostructure, textural features, and the possible applications. In this sense,
the use of waste biomass has had an important impulse in last years, as
previously mentioned.
Selection of the precursor for the development of low-cost activated carbons
depends upon several factors. The precursor should be preferable freely
available, inexpensive, and non-hazardous for nature. Furthermore, for good
development of the surface, structural and textural characteristics, high
contents of fixed carbon and low amount of ash are desirable. Many useful
and interesting precursors have been obtained from wood and woody
biomass, herbaceous and agricultural waste, industrial biomass waste and
mixtures. An important aspect in the activated carbon fabrication is the use
of various parts of plants including the core, stems, shells, peels, flowers,
fruits, seeds, stones, husks and leaves. (Omodele A. A. Eletta et al., 2019)
Recently, the use of aquatic biomass, fibres, grass, starch, cakes and other
non-conventional precursors are more frequently described as activated
carbon precursors.
4
Producing activated carbon from lignocellulosic biomass has many
advantages: the precursors are diverse, abundant, and renewable; the
synthesis is a process relatively simple due to the high reactivity of the
biomass; and it contributes to decreasing costs of waste disposal and the
negative impact to the environment.
Nonetheless, one of the most significant advantages of using renewable and
waste materials lies on the possibility of obtaining functional materials such
as electrodes, catalysts, fertilizers, liming and neutralizing agents, and
adsorbents of certain elements and compounds from water and air.

1.5 Objective
This study is an extensive review of the use of fish scale derived activated
carbon in removing heavy metals and dyes from industrial effluents.

5
 CHAPTER 2

THEORY AND LITERTURE REVIEW

2.1 Activation of Biomass:

There are two wide spread methods to activate carbonaceous materials,

commonly known as chemical and physical activation. Nevertheless,
simple thermal activation in nitrogen atmosphere and microwave radiation
has been proposed as effective methods to obtain activated carbon. In
addition, the use of combined activation (chemical and physical) is also an
alternative to increase the textural features and create hierarchical porosity.

2.1. (a) Carbonization/pyrolysis

Carbonization is a process, sometimes used prior to activation, where the

raw biomass undergoes a thermal treatment (pyrolysis) to enrich carbon
content in the precursor. Here, moisture and low molecular weight volatiles
are first released, followed by light aromatics and finally, hydrogen gas.
The resultant product obtained is a fixed carbonaceous skeleton. In this
process, an initial porosity is formed even though it is still comparatively
low. The pores formed during carbonization are filled with tarry pyrolysis
residues and require activation in order to develop the specific
characteristics of the carbon. Careful selection of carbonization parameters
is important because this process leaves a significant effect on the final
product. In this process, the carbonization temperature has the most
6
significant effect, followed by the heating rate, presence (or not) of an inert
atmosphere and its rate, and finally, the residence time. Normally,
carbonization temperatures higher than 600 °C result in reduced yield of
char while increasing the liquid and gases release rate. Higher temperatures
will also increase ash and fixed carbon content and lower the amount of
volatile matter. Thus, high temperatures result in better quality char but
also decreased yield.

2.1. (b) Physical activation

In a physical activation process, the biomass precursor is carbonized under

an inert atmosphere and the resulting carbon is subjected to a partial and
controlled gasification at high temperature. The activation atmosphere is a
high oxidizing agent such as CO2, water steam, O2 or a mixture of them at
elevated temperatures. In the particular case of gasification with steam, the
global reaction can be expressed as:-

C+H2O → CO + H2

Here, there are two equivalent mechanisms:-

1. Oxygen exchange model:-

i. H2O+C ↔ H2 + C(O)

ii. C(O) → CO + C

7
 2. Hydrogen inhibition model:-

i. H2O+C → H2 + C(O)

ii. C(O) → CO + C

iii. H2 + C ↔ C(H2)

where C is a carbon-free active site, C(O) is the oxygen surface complex

and C(H2) is the adsorbed hydrogen. Both mechanisms involve an initial
phase of adsorption/disassociation of water in the active sites of the carbon
surfaces, followed by the generation of CO and H2. The C(O) complexes
are energetically more difficult to remove from the surface.

2.1. (c) Chemical activation

In chemical activation, most of the times, raw biomass precursor is directly

impregnated with certain chemical agent such as H3PO4, H2SO4, HNO3,
ZnCl2, NaOH and KOH. Although not common, H2O2, K2CO3, CaCl2, form
amide and some others acid salts have been also used as activating agents.
During this step, the ratio between the chemical agent and precursor mass,
the impregnation agent, temperature time and stirring are strictly
controlled, since the function of the dehydrating agents is to inhibit the
formation of tar and other undesired products during the carbonization
process. The resulting precursor-agent mixture is later on thermally treated
at temperatures ranging from 400 to 1000 °C, normally, under a controlled
atmosphere, and finally washed to eliminate the activating agent. The
8
application of a gaseous stream such as air, nitrogen, or argon is a common
practice during pyrolysis, which generates a better development of the
internal porosity in the material. The chemical agents help to develop the
porosity, by means of dehydration and degradation of the biomass
structure, especially when the activation agent is highly alkaline. Here, it is
important to mention that the pore size distribution and surface area are
determined by the ratio between the chemical agent and precursor. In this
sense, ZnCl2 activation reacts with lignocellulosic at T < 500 °C. ZnCl2
produces a template effect and induces a uniform microspore formation;
this is why efficient elimination of chloride is significant. In addition, the
pore size increases with concentration of ZnCl2. During phosphoric acid
activation, concentration of acid modifies the microspores volume. High
amount of acid inhibits the development of micro porosity promoting
formation of meso and macrospores.
In contrast, activation with alkalis does not promote development of meso
and microspores. Generally, alkali agents produce narrow and wide micro
porosity. On the other hand, it has been observed that the ratio
alkali/precursor is a significant factor disintegration of the raw material.
Activation can proceed without disintegration at low alkali ratio; whereas,
high ratios of KOH to carbon result in the disintegration of the material.
Hence, the amount of KOH plays a decisive role on the formation of pores.
The following reactions may take place during the activated processes
under high temperature:-

i. 2KOH → K2O+H2O
ii. C+H2O → H2 + CO
iii. CO + H2O → H2 + CO2
iv. K2O + CO2 → K2CO3
9
 v. K2O+H2 → 2K + H2O
vi. K2O+C → 2K + CO

2.2 ADSORPTION:-

2.2. (a) Adsorption Principles

Adsorption is a process that occurs when a gas or liquid solute accumulates

on the surface of a solid or a liquid, forming a molecular or atomic film. In
other words, adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, biomolecules or
molecules of gas, liquid, or dissolved solids to a surface and this process
creates a film of the adsorbate (the molecules or atoms being accumulated)
on the surface of the adsorbent. It is a surface phenomenon and a
consequence of surface energy. The atoms on the surface of the adsorbent
are not wholly surrounded by other atoms and thus, can attract adsorbates.
The exact nature of the bonding depends on the details of the species
involved, but the adsorption process is generally classified as follows:
(1) Physisorption: It is a type of adsorption in which the adsorbate
adheres to the surface through Van der Walls (weak intermolecular)
interactions.
(2) Chemisorption: It is a type of adsorption whereby a molecule
adheres to a surface through the formation of a chemical bond.
Adsorption takes place primarily on the walls of the pores or at specific
sites inside the particle. As the pores are generally small, the internal
surface area is greater than the external area. Separation occurs because
differences in molecular weight, shape or polarity cause some molecules to
be held more strongly on the surface than others. In many cases, the
10
 adsorbate is held strongly enough to allow complete removal of that
component from the fluid.

2.2. (b) Basics on Dyes

As discussed earlier, dyes are an important class of pollutants and can even
be recognized by human eyes. A dye molecule consists of two key
components: the chromophores, responsible for producing the color, and
the auxochromes, which in addition to support the chromophore, also
render the molecule soluble in water and give enhanced affinity toward the
fibers. Dyes have high structural diversity and can be classified in many
ways.

2.2. (c) Reviews on Some Recent Work on Dyes

Several studies have been conducted on the adsorption of different dyes

from various adsorbents.

 In 2012, (Kumud Agarwal et al.,2013) the adsorption of acid blue 25, Cd2+
and Zn2+ on a physically activated bituminous carbon and a phosphoric
activated carbon from wood was studied using single and binary
(dye/metal) solutions. It was found that the presence of Acid blue 25
(AB25) on dye–metal binary solutions enhanced the adsorption of Zn2+
and Cd2+ on bituminous and wood commercial ACs in a very similar way,
in spite of the differences of the textural and surface chemistry properties
of both carbons.

11
 In 2012, (Kumud Agarwal et al.,2013) adsorption of acid dyes on SBA-3
ordered mesoporous silica, ethylene diamine functionalized SBA-3 (SBA-
3/EDA), amino propyl functionalized SBA-3 (SBA-3/APTES) and
pentaethylene hexamine functionalized SBA-3 (SBA-3/PEHA) materials
was studied. The SBA-3/PEHA was found to have the highest adsorption
capacity for all acid dyes. Batch studies were performed to study the effect
of various experimental parameters such as chemical modification, contact
time, initial concentration, adsorbent dose, agitation speed, solution pH and
reaction temperature on the adsorption process. The Freundlich model was
found to be fit with the equilibrium isotherm data.

 In 2011, (M.A. Tadda et al.,2016) dye removal from colored textile

wastewater using chitosan in binary system was studied. Here, Direct Red
23 and Acid Green 25 were used as anionic dyes. The adsorption kinetics
of dyes on chitosan followed the pseudo second order at different pH
values. The experimental data were correlated reasonably well by Tempkin
adsorption isotherm. It was concluded that the chitosan is an eco- friendly
adsorbent for dye removal from low concentration of acidic coloured
textile wastewater.

 In 2010, (P. González-García et al.,2017) chemically modified sugarcane

bagasse as a potentially low-cost bio sorbent for the removal of methyl red
was studied. The kinetics of methyl red adsorption followed the pseudo
first order kinetic expression and Langmuir isotherms model fit well. From
the study, it was inferred that sugarcane bagasse has a good potential to be
used for small scale industries, which produces dyes as their effluent, after
it was being pre-treated with phosphoric acid.

12
 In 2010, (M. Olivares-Marı´n et al.,2015) the removal of reactive red 23,
reactive blue 171, acid black 1 and acid blue 193 from aqueous solution
using fly ash was studied. The results showed that adsorption was pH
dependent, adsorption increased with the initial dye concentration; the
reaction was spontaneous and exothermic in nature.

 In 2010, (M. Olivares-Marı´n et al., 2015) the porous magnetic

microspheres prepared with sulfonated macroporous polydivinyl benzene
as a template and their ability to remove cationic dyes was studied. The
results show that methyl violet and basic fuchsin can be successfully
removed from the adsorbent used and even the adsorbent is easily
regenerated.

13
 CHAPTER 3

MATERIAL AND METHODS

3.1 Starting Material

 Raw materials (fish scale) from tilapia and rohu were collected from the
food market.

Fish Scale Collected from Food Market

 The fish scale is first washed with either tap, distilled or de-ionized water to
remove dusts, dirt and other unwanted particles. It is further washed with
synthetic detergents.

 It is followed by chemical treatment using an acid, base, peroxide or a

hypochlorite. Sometimes physical treatment by applying heating alongside
the chemical treatment is also employed. In cases where chemical treatment
is employed, rinsing is also undertaken with the use of distilled water.

Washed and Chemically Treated Fish Scale using HCL

14
 Sun drying, air drying and oven drying have also been reported. Where no
specific time was stated, scientific methodology is to terminate drying when
no further weight loss is noticeable. Some researchers did not employ the
use of any size reduction technique. Others utilized mortars, mills, grinders
and pulverizers.

Tray Dryer Oven Dried Fish Scales

 Sieving was done by a plethora of mesh sizes to obtain different particle

size. Several researchers undertook post-sieving or post-grinding chemical
treatment.

 Passing the biomass through furnace to induce a compositional

transformation/modification of the biomass has also been reported. This is a
process called carbonization.

Carbonized Fish Scale

15
3.2 Activation Procedure

Activated carbons are prepared from fish scale by pyrolysis under nitrogen
flow and activation under water vapour.

 Pyrolysis of the raw material was carried out with a horizontal tubular
furnace (length of 450 mm and internal diameter of 65 mm). The reactor
was a quartz tube (length of 750 mm and internal diameter of 35 mm),
which was placed in the furnace.

Two thermocouples were used to measure the temperature in the reactor and
for monitoring the furnace.

The clean and dry fish scale was pre-carbonized at 330 Cº for 3 h in air. The
pre-carbonized powder was mixed with KOH at a weight ratio of 1: 1.

The samples were kept in the high temperature oven for varying process
hold times (1, 2,3 hours). The pH of the sample is tested to check for the
removal KOH from the sample.

pH meter with stirrer

16
 For the pyrolysis step, about 4 g of fish scale were placed in the middle of
the reactor. Different pyrolysis temperatures of 400, 500, 600, 700 and 800
0
C were used.

Horizontal Tubular Reactor

 Nitrogen flow rate was of 100 cm3 min-1 and heating rate was of 100C min-1
for all the samples. Once the pyrolysis temperature was reached, sample
was maintained at this one for 1 hr. The resulting chars were then physically
activated at 400, 500, 600, 700 or 800 0C for 0.5, 1, 2, 3 or 6hrs under a
nitrogen flow (100 cm3 min-1 ) saturated in steam after passing through the
water saturator heated at 80 0C.

17
 Thus, the water partial pressure was of 474 hPa. During pyrolysis and
activation treatments, gaseous by-products such as CO, CO2, H2 and H2O
were evacuated by an extractor hood and the liquid by-products were
collected in a flask.

3.3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

After activation, the sample was cooled to ambient temperature under N 2

flow rate. Pyrolysis was performed on raw fish scale and on granular and
powdered samples obtained by grinding the biomass. The particle size was
between 1 and 3 mm and lower than 0.5 mm for the granular and powdered
form, respectively.

Synthesized Activated Carbon

18
 CHAPTER 4

Future Work: - Removal of Target

Impurities (Dyes)

Activated carbon prepared from fish scale will be used to treat polluted
wastewaters containing heavy metals, dyes and pharmaceuticals.

Adsorbent will be tested for:-

1. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) or SEM analysis is a powerful

analytical technique to perform analysis on a wide range of materials, at high
magnifications, and to produce high resolution images.

2. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is an analytical technique used to

determine a material's thermal stability and its fraction of volatile components
by monitoring the weight change that occurs as a sample is heated at a
constant rate.

3.Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) theory aims to explain the physical

adsorption of gas molecules on a solid surface and serves as the basis for an
important analysis technique for the measurement of the specific surface area
of materials.

4.X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD) is a nondestructive technique that

provides detailed information about the crystallographic structure, chemical
composition, and physical properties of a material. It is based on the
constructive interference of monochromatic X-rays and a crystalline sample.

A number of dyes will be studied using fish scale derived adsorbent. Dyes include
methylene blue, acid yellow dye, remazol yellow red and blue and a host of
others. The adsorption capacity for dyes and pharmaceuticals removal efficiencies
range between 78-90% is desired.

19
 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

This work shows that fish scale can be used as precursor to produce activated
carbon with a rather well-developed porosity by pyrolysis and physical
activation with water vapor.

Bio sorption is an effective and cheap treatment technology for effluent

treatment which does not require carbonization hence the mass reduction in the
process is negligible. Researchers have extensively studied the optimization,
equilibrium, kinetics and thermodynamics of the process. Some key
generalizations can be deduced from the review. Biomass derived adsorbents
have been proved to be adequate in treating wastewaters polluted with heavy
metals, dyes and pharmaceuticals. The fish scale has good adsorption
capacities for these pollutants and gives excellent removal efficiencies when
used. Though optimal bio sorption parameters vary, it was deduced that
optimal conditions for metal sorption is acidic pH and temperature range of 30-
500C. Biomass adsorption equilibrium is either according to Langmuir or
Freundlich isotherms and the bio sorption kinetics is according to the pseudo-
second order model. Biomass adsorption for metals is generally a spontaneous
process which is endothermic and varied for dyes and pharmaceuticals. In
conclusion, the recent trend in the research on fish scale as adsorbent is the
study of methods to improve the adsorption capacity and removal efficiency of
pollutants.

20
 CHAPTER 6

REFERENCES

1) Chafia Bouchelta, Mohamed Salah Medjram, and Odile Bertrand,

Jean-Pierre Bellat, Preparation and characterization of activated
carbon from date stones by physical activation with steam.
2) P. González-Garcia, Activated carbon from lignocellulosic
precursors: A review of the synthesis methods, characterization
techniques and applications.
3) Omodele A. A. Eletta, Joshua O. Ighalo, A Review of Fish Scales as a
Source of Bio sorbent for the Removal of Pollutants from Industrial
Effluents.
4) Soumya Ranjan Sahoo, Aratrika Ghosh Sri, Chandan Mishra,
Preparation of activated carbon from fish scale.
5) Kumud Agarwal, Removal of Dyes using conventional and advanced
adsorbents.
6) M. Olivares-Marı´n, C. Ferna´ndez-Gonza´lez, A. Macı´as-Garcı´a,
V. Go´mez-Serrano, Preparation of activated carbon from cherry
stones by chemical activation with ZnCl2.
7) J Romanos, M Beckner, T Rash, L Firlej, B Kuchta, P Yu, G Suppes,
C Wexler, and P Pfeifer, Nanospace engineering of KOH activated
carbon.
8) M.A. Tadda, A. Ahsan, A. Shitu, M. ElSergany, T. Arunkumar,
Bipin Jose, M. Abdur Razzaque, N.N. Nik Daud, A review on
activated carbon: process, application and prospects.

21