Adsorption of Heavy Metal Ions by Oil Palm Decanter Cake Activated Carbon

Adsorption processes are widely used for the removal of heavy metals from waste streams. Oil palm decanter cake (OPDC) is used as a bioadsorbent because of its compositional properties for activated carbon production; moreover, it is a readily available raw material produced in palm oil mills and is thus abundant and cheap. In this study, the OPDC was carbonized at 700 degrees C and activated using steam at 700 degrees C to produce oil palm decanter cake activated carbon (AC-OPDC). Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to compare the adsorption capacities of the raw OPDC and the AC-OPDC for heavy metals removal. The maximum adsorption capacities of AC-OPDC on Cu(II), Pb(II), and Zn(II) were found to be 45.01, 128.51, and 39.21 mg/g, respectively, which were higher than those of the raw OPDC. This study demonstrates that the AC-OPDC has the potential to be a bioadsorbent for heavy metal removal from wastewater.