Fixed bed column study for Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn removal from wastewater using nanometer size polypyrrole coated on rice husk ash

This paper reports the results of study on the synthesis and performance of polypyrrole nanocomposite coated on rice husk ash in removing the heavy metals such as iron, copper, zinc and manganese from wastewater. The adsorbent materials adopted were found to be an efficient media for the removal of heavy metals in continuous mode using fixed bed column. The column studies were conducted with a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min with different bed depths such as 10, 20 and 30 cm. It was found that PPy/RHA can be used as an effective adsorbent in the wastewater treatment. The longer breakthrough time were observed for Mn ion in comparison with other ions, under the same conditions. Also, the products were investigated in terms of morphology, chemical structure and thermal stability with scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.