Modification of activated carbon with cationic surfactant for heavy metals removal

Heavy metal presence in wastewater in particular fine particles poses a potential risk to the health of humans. The purpose of this experiment was to improve the adsorption method by modified activated carbon with cationic surfactant (CTAB) for the removal of different heavy metals such as zinc, copper, and chromium. CTAB provided more actives site in AC to increase the adsorption. Due to its highly effective ability to absorb, activated carbon used as an adsorbent to eliminate heavy metal and also an easy to handle and low-cost method. Modified activated carbon was mixed with a metal solution within different contact times. Then, the mixture was filtered to analyze the solution after adsorption. The samples were characterized by UV-Vis, SEM, XRD, FTIR, and BET to know the efficiency of modified activated carbon absorbed heavy metals. The characterization showed the formation of porosity in SEM analysis and the reduced surface area and pore volume in BET analysis. The adsorption test also indicated the improvement in the percentage of removal of heavy metal for modification of activated carbon and the removal of heavy metals have tendency in selective chromium as it has negative charges that react with positive charges of CTAB surfactant. The percentage of removal chromium increased from 57.15 % to 85.72%.