Vusumzi E Pakade
Vaal University of Technology, South Africa
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Insights in Analytical Electrochemistry
Activated carbons derived from macadamia nutshell powder were subjected to secondary modification by various concentrations of mineral acid. Subsequently, subjected to surface imprinting for the recognition of Cr(III). In a separate study, polymeric membrane sheets were modified by surface imprinting for Cr(III) removal. Non-imprited versions of both formats were prepared to use as controls. It has been noted that during removal of Cr(VI) by activated carbons (AC), part of Cr(VI) is reduced to Cr(IIII) and in turn not adsorbed on the surface. Therefore, the current study seeks to address the un-adsorbed Cr(III) by introducing the selective imprinting method for the recognition of Cr(III). FTIR, TGA, SEM revealed that the acid treatment modified the surface of the adsorbent. Compared to the raw AC the acid functionalized AC showed acidic characteristic bands. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) detected the presence of C=O, O-H and COO- functional groups on the surface of the modified AC. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) showed an increase in surface area from 549 to 582 m2 g-1 following treatment. Different experimental parameters were optimized for effective adsorption of Cr(VI). The optimal parameters were as follows: pH 1, solution concentration 100 mg L-1, reaction time 8 hours and adsorbent dosage 0.32 g indicating that adsorption is strongly dependent on the mentioned parameters.
Vusumzi E Pakade is a Professor at Vaal University of Technology, South Africa. He has been working in the university from many years.
Email:vusumzip@vut.ac.za
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