Carbon from Cassava peel, an agricultural waste, as an adsorbent in the removal of dyes and metal ions from aqueous solution

Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is a short lived erect perennial shrub, planted vegetatively from hard wood stem cuttings. It is an important crop across a wide range of tropical environments and is a significant component of cropping systems. Cassava peel is an agricultural waste from the food processing industry. Activated carbons prepared from waste cassava peel employing physical and chemical methods were tested for their efficiency in the removal of dyes and metal ions from aqueous solution. While both of these were efficient as adsorbents for dyes and metal ions, the material impregnated with H3PO4 showed higher efficiency than the heat treated materials. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.