Adsorptive removal of atrazine from aqueous solution using bambara groundnut hulls (Vigna Subterranean)

Abstract

The removal of atrazine from aqueous solution was performed using bambara groundnut hulls powder as a biosorbent by batch adsorption studies. The operating variables studied were pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, initial concentration and temperature. The adsorption process was found to be highly pH dependent, with pH 7.0 being optimum. The biomass required at saturation was 0.9 g and the equilibrium was reached after 120 min. The Freundlich isotherm equation fitted the equilibrium data for atrazine sorption. The Qmax and Kf values were found to be 3.5236 mg/g and 0.3221 mg/g respectively. The aforementioned parameters indicated that bambara groundnut hulls could be used as a new and efficient adsorbent material for the removal of atrazine from wastewaters. The equilibrium isotherm was found to be pseudo first order with an equilibrium constant of 0.01313 min-1 . Desorption experiments were carried out and the desorption percentage ranged from 45 to 70%