Adsorption of Cr(VI) ions onto goethite, activated carbon and their composite: kinetic and thermodynamic studies

Abstract Hexavalent chromium was adsorbed from aqueous solution with three prepared and characterized adsorbents, namely goethite (G), activated carbon (AC) and their composite (GAC). The goethite particle was synthesized using the precipitation methods, and activated carbon was prepared from the stem bark of Daniellia oliveri tree and composite in a ratio of 1:5 goethite–activated carbon. The adsorption capacities of G, AC and GAC for Cr(VI) are 6.627, 5.455 and 6.354 mg/g with 0.02 g adsorbent within contact time of 60, 180 and 30 min for G, AC and GAC, respectively, for Cr(VI) adsorption at optimum pH of 3. The isotherm studied was best explained by Langmuir adsorption isotherm and fitted with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Desorption studies showed that 1.0 M HNO 3 was a better desorbing agent than 0.1 M HNO 3 , 0.1 M HCl and 1.0 M HCl. Chromium was most desorbed (94.60% in Cr//G using 1 M HNO 3 ). The result obtained revealed that goethite and activated carbon produced are favourable adsorbents and the composite of the two adsorbents gives a more favourable, economical and affordable adsorbent for the clean-up of heavy metal contamination.