Potential of Artocarpus heterophyllus Seed Powder in the Adsorption of Chromium(VI) from Aqueous Solution

Abstract

The potential of Artocarpus heterophyllus (Jackfruit) seed powder in adsorption of chromium(VI) from aq. soln. was studied using batch technique. The performance of the adsorption process was evaluated against contact time, pH, adsorbent dose, temp. and initial chromium(VI) ion concn. The influence of the presence of interfering anionic species including chlorides, nitrates and sulfates on the adsorption process was also evaluated. The adsorption of chromium(VI) by Jackfruit seed powder reached equil. after 60 min. Higher chromium(VI) adsorption was obsd. at lower pH values with max. removal (96.05%) occurring at pH 2. A great deal of adsorption (92.53%) was obsd. at the adsorbent dosage level of 1.0 g/100 mL soln. There was an improvement in the adsorption process when the temp. was increased from 25°C (95.35%) to 60°C (99.56%) followed by a decrease to 98.76% at 70°C. Adsorption decreased with increasing initial chromium(VI) ion concn. The adsorption followed both Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption models with correlation coeffs. of 0.998 and 0.994 resp., and Qm of 0.57 mg/g. The presence of nitrate and chloride ions significantly lowered the adsorption, with all the p values < 0.05 at 95% significant level. Meanwhile, the presence of sulfate ions enhanced chromium(VI) adsorption as most of the p values were >0.05. From the obtained Qm, Jackfruit Seed Powder is a good adsorbent for the aq. solns. of Cr(VI). The adsorption process is slowed by the presence of the interfering anionic species. [on SciFinder(R)]