Preparation and characterisation of an natural adsorbent used for elimination of pollutants in wastewater

In recent years the uses of waste as a raw material for producting porous carbon have been widely employed in the purification of water and wastewater. The application of these carbons has bees considered also a major unit operation in the chemical and petrochemical industries. The purpose of this study is to characterize a natural adsorbent obtained from local cereals by products. This solid has been tested with organic pollutants (phenol, dyes) and inorganic pollutants (copper, zinc and cadmium) where he was given a good performance. The characterization is important to understand and identify the different phenomena of retention (adsorbent-adsorbate) as well as to the interpretation of the kinetic results. The characterization is focused on quantitative analysis (elemental analysis, BET), qualitative (RX, IR) and optical (SEM) in order to get an idea on the morphology and pore structure and active sites. (C) 2012 by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/ or peer review under responsibility of The TerraGreen Society.