S. SASIREKA, G. SELVAKUMARI AND P. SHANMUGHAPRABHA
Abstract
Serious risk of mercury (Hg) contamination in aquatic environment is the impetus of the present investigation. The adsorption of Hg (II) ion in batch mode using activated carbon prepared from Cassia fistula seed was studied. Batch mode experiments were conducted to determine the effects of varying adsorbent dose, pH, contact time and metal ion concentration. Experiments showed that pH has much influence on adsorption compared to other parameters. Experimental results were tested with various isotherms. Langmuir isotherm was found to be suitable for adsorption of Hg (II). The adsorption kinetics were best described by the pseudo-second order model. The cost of the removal is expected to be quite low, as the adsorbent is cheap and easily available in large quantities. The present study showed that Cassia fistula seed carbon was capable of removing mercury ion from aqueous solution.