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.

The objective of this work is to study the feasibility of the preparation of the activated carbon (AC) from coconut tree flowers using high temperature fluidized bed reactor (HTFBR). The activating agent used in this work is steam. The reactor was operated at various activation temperature (650, 700, 750, 800 and 850℃) and activation time (30, 60, 120 and 240 min) for the production of AC from coconut tree flowers. Effect of activation time and activation temperature on the quality of the AC preparation was observed. Prepared AC was characterized in-terms of iodine number, methylene blue number, methyl violet number, ethylene glycol mono ethyl ether (EGME) surface area and SEM photographs. The best quality of AC from coconut tree flowers (CFC) was obtained at an activation temperature and time of 850℃ and 1 hr restectively. The effectiveness of carbon prepared from coconut tree flowers in adsorbing crystal violet from aqueous solution has been studied as a function of agitation time, carbon dosage, and pH. The adsorption of crystal violet onto AC followed second order kinetic model. Adsorption data were modeled using both Langmuir and Freundlich classical adsorption isotherms. The adsorption capacity qm was 277.78 mg/g., equilibrium time was found to be 180 min. This adsorbent from coconut tree flowers was found to be effective for the removal of CV dye.

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.