V. SRIHARI, ASHUTOSH DAS, C. RAM PRASATI, A. MEERA, G. VASANTHA DEVI
Abstract
Phenol has been notorious for being one of the most toxic industrial pollutants; even at low concentration it affects the water quality and is fatal at high concentrations. Although activated carbon has been one of the most commonly used adsorbents to treat most of the organic compounds, yet its high cost of manufacture and difficulty in recovery has led to extensive research on alternate indigenous adsorbents. As an alternative to activated carbon, a study has been carried out using residue of root of Hemidesmus indicus in phenol adsorption. The extract from this medicinal herb is used ias a traditional soft drink in Indian subcontinent as an energy supplement. The experiments have been conduceted to study the adsorption capacities of Hemidesmus indicus residue, in contrast to activated carbon. The study showed that the adsorption capacity of the Hemidesmus indicus residue, was marginally less than that of activated carbon (<6%) and in addition, the plant is easily accessible and inexpensive and the sample used was a untreated residual waste after extraction.