Cadmium Removal by Adsorption: Enhancement by Surfactant Mediation

Abstract

This work proposes to tackle the problem of heavy metal contamination of water, using adsorption phenomenon. We have tried to enhance the adsorptive cadmium uptake capacity of activated carbon by modifying its surface with the surfactant - Alpha olefin sulfonate. The effect of contact time and the initial concentration on the adsorption process has been determined. Study of the cadmium uptake by both the unmodified and surfactant modified carbon, with the adsorption data fitted to adsorption isotherms, showed the cadmium uptake capacity of the surfactant modified activated carbon to have enhanced two-fold over the unmodified activated carbon.