Production of Activated Carbon and Characterization from Snail Shell Waste (Helix pomatia)

Rhoda Habor Gumus^*, Ideyonbe Okpeku

Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Nigeria.

DOI: 10.4236/aces.2015.51006                

Abstract

Snail shell waste (Helix pomatia) has been evaluated as raw material for the preparation of activated carbon using ZnCl₂ and CaCl₂ with the temperature ranging from 500°C to 800°C. The activated carbon prepared was characterized, showing effect of temperature on ash content, pore volume and porosity. The adsorption isotherm for methylene blue was carried out on the activated carbon in a batch study. The adsorbent exhibited excellent adsorption for methylene blue. The experimental data were used for both Langmuir and Freundlich models. The adsorption coefficients of Langmuir isotherm were found to be 0.996 and 0.957 for CaCl₂ and ZnCl₂ while 0.969 and 0.962 were obtained for the Freundlich isotherm respectively. The value of RL was found to be 0.75 and 0.38 for samples CC and ZZ respectively, which is an indication that activated carbon impregnated with CaCl₂ and ZnCl₂ is favourable for adsorption of methylene blue under the conditions used in this study.

Keywords

Activated Carbon, Snail Shell Waste, Methylene Blue, Adsorption

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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