Preparation of Citrate Porous Activated Carbon and Its Application in Adsorption Modeling of Zn(II) from Aqueous Environment

African palm (Elaeis Guineensis) husk, an industries waste disposed of into drains and landfills can be source of precursor for the preparation of activated carbon. In this work, activated carbon was chemically prepared with H3PO4 and modified with trisodium citrate. Evaluation of surface area and porosity and functionality were performed by nitrogen adsorption and FTIR techniques. The activated carbon was used in treating wastewater that contains Zn(II) by varying adsorbent dosage, sorption time, and pH. The adsorption capacity increased with increase in pH reaching a maximum at pH 6. Kinetic and isotherm studies of the new adsorbent (AC/Na-Ci) revealed that adsorption behavior follows Pseudo-second order reaction and Langmuir model respectively, with a maximum monolayer capacity of 131.58 mg/g. The removal efficiency of AC/Na-Ci in the treatment of wastewater containing Zn(II) was promising compared with other adsorbents, and it could be an nascent step towards achieving sustainable and environmentally friendly remediation.