Tartrazine modified activated carbon for the removal of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cr(III)

A two in one attempt for the removal of tartrazine and metal ions on activated carbon has been developed. The method was based on the modification of activated carbon with tartrazine then its application for the removal of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cr(III) ions at different pH values. Tartrazine adsorption data were modelled using both Langmuir and Freundlich classical adsorption isotherms. The adsorption capacities q m were 121.3, 67 and 56.7 mg g −1 at initial pH values of 1.0, 6.0 and 10, respectively. The adsorption of tartrazine onto activated carbon followed second-order kinetic model. The equilibrium time was found to be 240 min at pH 1.0 and 120 min at pH 10 for 500 mg L −1 tartrazine concentration. A maximum removal of 85% was obtained after 1 h of contact time. The presence of tartrazine as modifier enhances attractive electrostatic interactions between metal ions and carbon surface. The adsorption capacity for Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cr(III) ions has been improved with respect to non-modified carbon reaching a maximum of 140%. The adsorption capacity was found to be a pH dependent for both modified and non-modified carbon with a greater adsorption at higher pH values except for Cr(III). The enhancement percent of Pb(II), Cd(II) and Cr(III) at different pH values was varied from 28% to 140% with respect to non-modified carbon. The amount of metal ions adsorbed using static regime was 11–40% higher than that with dynamic mode. The difference between adsorption capacities could be attributed to the applied flow rate.