Adsorption of bilirubin toxin in liver by chitosan coated activated carbon prepared from date pits

Abstract

The aim of this work was to develop activated carbon (AC) from date pit powder and evaluate its adsorption efficiency of bilirubin toxin. In order to increase the adsorption capacity of bilirubin, an increase in the surface area is necessary. This increase was achieved through pyrolysis technique and to further increase the absorption capacity of AC when coated with chitosan gel, which contains several groups on its chains that act as interaction sites. Results indicated that the presence of the AC lead to a decrease in bilirubin content and the more the AC added to the sample, the faster the rate of adsorption as well as the higher the capacity of adsorption. A 0.3 M AC concentration shows a 0.82 left over bilirubin fraction after 16 h, while a 0.1 M AC concentration shows a 0.9 bilirubin fraction after the same interval of time. Contact time is another factor that also contributed to the increase in adsorption of bilirubin. It was seen that chitosan coated AC shows an increase in adsorption percentage from about 25% to 96% when left for a longer period of time.