부산대학교 도서관

Chemical and physical activation processes, which are relatively expensive and non-eco-friendly, are conventionally employed for activated carbon preparation. In this study, aqueous cashew bark extract was used to activate carbon prepared from corncob (CBAC). Its ability to adsorb Cd(II) from an aqueous solution was compared with the H3PO4 activated variant (CCAC). The pH of optimum adsorption was 4 (80.4% efficiency for CCAC and 75.6% for CBAC). Adsorption with CBAC attained equilibrium in 60 min compared to 90 min required with CCAC. The adsorption data followed the Elovich model. For CCAC the process was feasible at all temperatures. However, for CBAC, the process was spontaneous at temperatures higher than 303 K. The efficiency of CCAC was a little higher than CBAC for all the variables investigated, yet the adsorptive capability of CBAC was comparably favourable. Hence, cashew bark extract can be utilized as a cheaper and less eco-toxic alternative to H3PO4 for activating carbon produced from corncob. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]