Comparative study of lophira alata sawdust and activated carbonized sawdust in adsorption of heavy metal contaminated water

Thesis Abstract

The lophira alata wood sawdust that was obtained was washed with distilled water, dried, and divided into two portions. The first portion was used as the unmodified sawdust sample while the second portion was first carbonized at a temperature of 600C for 4 hours and later activated using 2M KOH for 24 hours at room temperature. The two samples were used as adsorbent to adsorb Nickel and Cadmium ions from aqueous solution. The effect of contact time, sawdust dosage, and the PH, of heavy metal ions removal has been studied. The physiochemical properties of the two adsorbents used have also been computed. The results obtained shows that an increase in sawdust dosage, contact time, and the PH, all resulted in an increase in the adsorption rate. The results obtained indicated that the activated carbonized sawdust adsorbs more than the unmodified sawdust. The selectivity order of adsorption in terms of adsorption rate is Activated Carbonized sawdust Unmodified sawdust. From these results, it is concluded that the lophira alata wood sawdust is a very good and effective low-cost adsorbent for the removal of heavy metal ions from contaminated water and the activated carbonized form of this sawdust is most preferred for removing toxic contaminants from waste water.