The adsorption of phenolic compound resorcinol on activated carbons prepared from Moringa oleifera (Drumstick bark) has been investigated. Activated carbon was prepared by impregnating Moringa oleifera with 50% phosphoric acid in the ratio of 1:1 and 1:2(w/w), designated as MOAC1 and MOAC2. Equilibrium and isotherm studies were carried out. The influences of variables such as contact time, initial concentration of resorcinol, carbon dosage in the solution on percentage adsorption and adsorption capacity of the bark have been analysed. The equilibration time was found to be 4 h. Kinetics of resorcinol onto activated carbons was checked for pseudo first order and pseudo second order model. It was found that the adsorption of resorcinol follows pseudo second order kinetics for both MOAC1 and MOAC2. The isotherm data were correlated with isotherm models, namely Langmuir and Freundlich. Adsorption isotherms were satisfactorily fitted by both the Langmuir and Freundlich model for MOAC1 and MOAC2.

In the present study Sisal fiber obtained from the leaves of Agave sisalana has been chosen to validate its viability as an adsorbent for the removal of Nickel from aqueous solutions. The material was also surface modified and its effect on adsorption of Nickel was also studied. Agave sisalana fiber was found to be a cheap and effective adsorbent doing away with the need to activate the material therby reducing processing cost. The equilibrium studies indicated that the adsorption capacity of raw fiber and the surface modified fiber was 8.66 and 9.77 mg/g respectively with the Langmuir isotherm describing the adsorption phenomena better than the Freundlich and Temkin isotherm. The adsorption was found to be exothermic from the thermodynamic studies and the kinetics showed that the adsorption phenomena were second order.