Kinetics and Thermodynamics of Sorption of 4-Nitrophenol on Activated Kaolinitic Clay and Jatropha Curcas Activated Carbon from Aqueous Solution

Adsorption behaviour of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) on activated kaolinitic clay and Jatropha curcas activated carbon was investigated. The kaolinitic clay and Jatropha curcas were activated with 1 M HNO3 and 0.5 M NaOH respectively and were characterized by XRF, XRD, BET, SEM and FTIR techniques. The effects of processing parameters, such as initial 4-NP concentration, temperature, pH, contact time and adsorbent dosage on the adsorption process were investigated. The results obtained showed that Jatropha curcas activated carbon exhibited higher performance than activated kaolinitic clay for the removal of 4-nitrophenol from aqueous solution. Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich models were used to describe the adsorption isotherms. The adsorption data were best fitted with Freundlich model. The experimental data of the two adsorbate-adsorbent systems fitted very well with the pseudo-second order kinetic model with r(2) values of 0.999 respectively. Adsorption thermodynamic parameters were also estimated. The results revealed that the adsorption of 4-nitrophenol onto both adsorbents were exothermic processes and spontaneous for Jatropha curcas activated carbon but non spontaneous for activated kaolinitic clay.