Removal of Cu2+ from Aqueous Water by Adsorption onto the Efficient and Recyclable Durian Shell-Derived Activated Carbon

Abstract

We investigated the use of durian shell-derived activated carbon (DSAC) for the removal of Cu2+. To determine the optimal condition for Cu2+ removal, the response surface methodology (RSM) was used to establish a second-order polynomial model with variables such as Cu2+ concentration (Ci), adsorbent dosage (dDSAC) and pH. With R2 = 0.9847 and P-value < 0.0001, the model was proved to be statistically significant. The RSM based confirmation test revealed that the removal of Cu2+ was maximum (99.6%) at optimal conditions: Ci = 61.6 mg/L, dDSAC = 5.0 g/L and pH = 5.2. Based on calculated R2, data fitness for adsorption isotherms were positioned as follows: Langmuir > Tempkin > Freundlich. In other words, monolayer adsorption was the most favorable behavior with maximum capacity of 76.92 mg/g from Langmuir model. Interestingly, DSAC was reused at least five times without a considerable decrease of Cu2+ removal efficiency. Therefore, durian shell can be used as a highly effective, reusable and promising raw material to fabricate the activated carbon.