Potassium bromate modification of the granular activated carbon and its effect on nickel adsorption

Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), a commercial adsorbent for the removal of heavy metals was treated chemically with potassium bromate for it's surface modification and it's adsorption capacity was investigated with nickel ions. There was an increase in the adsorption capacity of the modified carbon by 90-95% in comparison to the raw granular activated carbon towards nickel ion adsorption. Potassium Bromate oxidation treatment was employed for a period of about 30 mins initially followed by 60 mins and the oxidized carbons were adsorbed with nickel ions. Metal sorption characteristics of as received and modified activated carbons were measured in batch experiments. Batch adsorption was successfully modeled by Langmuir Isotherm Model which indicates monolayer adsorption. The adsorption isotherms also fit well to the Freundlich Model. Effects of pH of initial solution, time of oxidation and mode of treatment on the adsorption process were studied. Experimental results showed that metal uptake increased with an increase in pH and oxidation time. The samples were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) studies and surface area analyzer.