Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 90 (2011) 42–47

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Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis

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Activated carbon obtained by pyrolysis of potato peel for the removal of heavy
metal copper (II) from aqueous solutions
J.C. Moreno-Piraján a,∗ , L. Giraldo b
a
Departamento de Química, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Grupo de Investigación en Sólidos Porosos y Calorimetría, Bogotá, Colombia
b
Departamento de Química, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Activated carbons (ACs) were prepared by pyrolysis of potato peel in presence of zinc chloride (chemi-
Received 17 January 2010 cal activities). Potato peel from Colombian cultives were impregnated with aqueous solutions of ZnCl2
Accepted 18 October 2010 following a variant of the incipient wetness method. Different concentrations were used to produce
Available online 23 October 2010
impregnation ratios of 40, 70, 110 and 160 wt.%. Activation was carried out under argon flow by heating
to 823 K with 4 h soaking time. The porous texture of the obtained ACs was characterized by physical
Keywords:
adsorptions of N2 at 77 K and CO2 at 273 K. The impregnation ratio had a strong influence on the pore
Peel potato
structure of these ACs, which could be easily controlled by simply varying the proportion of ZnCl2 used in
Adsorption
Surface area
the activation. Thus, low impregnation ratio led to essentially microporous ACs. At intermediate impreg-
Activated carbon nation ratios, ACs with wider pore size distribution (from micropores to mesopores) were obtained.
Langmuir Finally, high impregnation ratios yielded essentially mesoporous carbons with high surface area and
Prausnitz–Radke pore volume. The four best-fit three-parameter isotherms Sips, Toth, Radke–Prausnitz and Vieth–Sladek
suggest that the sorption capacity of activated carbon of potato peel to uptake copper ions to be 74 mg/g.

© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Activated carbons are materials having complex porous
structures with associated energetic as well as chemical inhomo-
geneities. Their structural heterogeneity is a result of existence
of micropores, mesopores and macropores of different sizes and
shapes. Activated carbon is one of the most important adsorbents
from an industrial view of point. The main application of this adsor-
bent is for separation and purification of gaseous and liquid phase
mixtures [1–7].
There are two processes for preparation of activated carbon:
chemical activation and physical activation. Chemical activation is
known as a single step method of preparation of activated carbon in
the presence of chemical agents. Physical activation involves car-
bonization of a carbonaceous materials followed by activation of
the resulting char in the presence of activating agents such as CO2
or steam. The chemical activation usually takes place at a temper-
ature lower than that used in physical activation, therefore it can
improve the pore development in the carbon structure because of
the effect of chemicals. The carbon yields of chemical activation
are higher than physical one [6,8–30]. Potato is the most impor-
tant foods in Colombia, an agricultural country. Potato is one of the
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +57 1 3394949; fax: +57 1 3324366.
E-mail address: jumoreno@uniandes.edu.co (J.C. Moreno-Piraján).
primary foods in our country and usually used for traditional food,
cake, etc. Various agricultural products are widely used as basis
Colombia food such as cassava, maize, onion, rice, sugar and spe-
cially potato. The potato production in Colombia is very huge and
only small amounts are utilized by traditional food industries, and
the rest are used as the raw material for cassava starch industries.
Potato starch making operation produces a large amount of solid
wastes (potato peel), and direct discharge of this solid wastes will
cause the environmental problems. Here we report on the porous
texture characteristics of ACs prepared by ZnCl2 activation of potato
peel, i.e. the shells covering potato. These constitute a by-product
from potato processing following harvest with few practical appli-
cations and whose uncontrolled spill (e.g. in rivers) causes some
environmental concern. In fact, applications of potato peel are lim-
ited to use as fuel or as feedstock to obtain food for animal.
The other hand solid and liquid wastes are generated in large
amounts in the wastewater of several industries such as metal
cleaning and plating baths, refineries, paper and pulp, fertilizers
and wood preservatives which are being dumped or released into
the water causing detrimental effects not only on humans but also
upon environment, therefore it has become imperative to develop
methods for treating such wastes. Studies have proved that heavy
metals such as lead, zinc, cadmium, chromium and copper are very
toxic elements [8,9]. The excessive intake of copper by man leads
to severe headaches, hair loss, hypoglycemia, increased heart rate,
nausea, damage of kidney, and liver. It may also cause psychological

0165-2370/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jaap.2010.10.004
 J.C. Moreno-Piraján, L. Giraldo / Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 90 (2011) 42–47
Fig. 1. Furnace vertical for obtain of activated carbon from cassava peel.
problems, such as brain dysfunction, depression, and schizophrenia
[9–36].
We will show that carbon adsorbents with high surface areas
and pore volumes can be obtained from this material, and that
development of the porous structure can be modulated by changing
the relative proportions of feedstock and ZnCl2 .
2. Experimental
2.1. Reagents
All chemicals were of reagents grade, purchased Merck and
potato peel were obtained from cultives Colombian.
2.2. Treatment and preparation of sample
Prior to the use, the potato peel was repeatedly washed with dis-
tilled water in order to remove dust and other inorganic impurities,
then oven-dried for 24 h at 393 K to reduce the moisture content.
Peel from Colombian potato were impregnated with aqueous solu-
tions of chloride zinc following a variant of the incipient wetness
method; similar cases have been described in literature [11–14].
This consists of adding dropwise (while stirring the solid, to facil-
itate homogeneous absorption of liquid) the amount of aqueous
solution (2.0 mL g−1 potato peel) necessary to produce swelling
until incipient wetness. Different concentrations of ZnCl2 in aque-
ous solution were used to vary the content of impregnation agent,
which will be expressed as impregnation ratio (Xp , wt.%), defined
as (gram ZnCl2 per g potato peel) × 100. Impregnation ratios of 40,
70, 110 and 160 wt.% were used. After impregnation, the samples
were dried for 8 h at 383 K in air. Pyrolysis treatments (activations)
were carried out in a vertical tubular reactor made of quartz in fur-
nace CarboliteTM , (Fig. 1) using in all cases 25 g of impregnated and
dried material.
All treatments were done at a constant heating rate of
10 K min−1 and with an argon (99.999% pure) flow of 30
STP cm3 min−1 , which was kept during heating and cooling. An acti-
vation temperature of 823 K and a soaking time of 4 h were used.
After cooling the solid pyrolysis residue to room temperature it
was washed with milli-Q distilled water until lowering the con-
ductivity of the washing liquids to <5 ␮s cm−1 (measured with a
pH/conductivity meter HP, model MARK 602). The resulting ACs
was dried at 383 K for 24 h in a vacuum furnace. The activated car-
bon were labeled here as: ACPP40, ACPP70, ACPP110 and ACPP160,
of according to their impregnation ratios with ZnCl2 .
43
2.3. Pore structure characterization
The porous texture of ACs was characterized by physical
adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K (using an automatic volumet-
ric adsorption apparatus, AUTOSORB 3B from Quantachrome
instruments) and carbon dioxide at 273 K (using a automatic
volumetric adsorption apparatus, AUTOSORB 3B from Quan-
tachrome instruments). In either case the samples were degassed
overnight at 573 K before every adsorption measurement. Gases
used had minimum purities of 99.999% (N2 ) and 99.98% (CO2 ).
N2 adsorption data were analyzed by means of the BET and
Dubinin–Radushkevich (DR) equations, the ␣S method (using
Spheron-6 carbon black as reference material) and the density func-
tional theory (DFT). CO2 adsorption data were analyzed by the
Dubinin–Radushkevich–Kaganer (DRK) equation.
2.4. Study of pH and determination of isotherms of adsorption
from aqueous solution
Batch adsorption experiments were carried out in a series of
stopper reagent bottles. 100 mL of CuSO4 solution with prede-
termined initial concentration of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 to 100 mg/L
was put inside the 30 mL stopper reagent bottles, which contained
0.5 g using the activated carbon of mayor area (ACPP160). Prior to
that, the pH solution was adjusted to the desired values by adding
HNO3 or NaOH. The reagent bottles with activated carbon–CuSO4
mixture were shaken using an orbital incubator shaker, which
operated at 100 rpm and 298 K (±1 K) for 8 h to attain the equi-
librium condition. Blank solutions were treated similarly without
the adsorbent, and the recorded concentrations at the end of each
operation were taken as the initial. The final concentrations of the
solution were then determined from a calibration curve. The solu-
tions were continuously agitated for at least 8 days, which is the
maximum contact time to reach equilibrium with this sorbent and
particle size (according to previous studies with many other met-
als). Blank samples were also processed in the absence of sorbent to
check for sorption on the experimental equipment (flasks, filtration
units, etc.) and the absence of precipitation phenomena. Samples
were finally collected and filtered using 1.2 ␮m pore size filter
membranes. Metal content in the filtrate was measured by atomic
emission spectrometry (AES) (Perkin Elmer AAnalyst 300, US). The
mass balance equation was used to calculate the amount of copper
at equilibrium. Therefore, the sorption capacity q (mg Cu g−1 ) was
44 J.C. Moreno-Piraján, L. Giraldo / Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 90 (2011) 42–47

325 increasing Xp , slightly at low impregnation ratios and more steeply

above 110 wt.% ZnCl2 , as could be expected from the shape of the
300
isotherms.
275 The total pore volume, Vp (N2 ) (calculated from N2 adsorption
data as volume of liquid N2 at a relative pressure of 0.975) increases
250
continuously with increasing impregnation ratio as does the meso-
225 pore volume, Vmp (DFT, N2 ) (volume of pores with widths between
0.2 and 20 nm). The ultramicropore volume, Vumicrop. (DFT, N2 ) (vol-
STP (cm /g)

200
ume corresponding to pores of width <0.7 nm) follows the opposite
3

175 trend. Let us examine now the variation of the micropore volume
as a function of Xp . Parameters such as Vmicrop. (DRK, CO2 )] and
150
ads

Vmicrop. (DFT, N2 ) (the latter being calculated as the volume of pores

V

125 of width <2 nm) go through a maximum at Xp = 70 wt.%. The alter-

native parameter Vmicrop. (DR, N2 ) increases with increasing Xp over
100
the entire range of impregnation ratios studied, albeit the increase
75 is small above Xp = 70 wt.% Vmicrop. (DRK, CO2 ) is always smaller than
Vmicrop. (DFT, N2 ) and Vmicrop. (DR, N2 ), this being attributable to
50
ACPP40 the presence of wide micropores that are not filled with CO2 at the
ACPP70
25 ACPP160 low relative pressures (<0.03) attained at 273 K; it is well known
ACPP110
that, under these conditions, CO2 only measures narrow microp-
0
0 0,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 0,8 0,9 1 orosity [11]. The differences between Vmicrop. (DFT, N2 ) and Vmicrop.
P/P0 (DR, N2 ) are ascribable to the artifactual minimum around 1 nm
that arises systematically in DFT calculations. This minimum, intro-
Fig. 2. N2 adsorption isotherms at 77 K on ACs prepared at different impregnation duced by modelling assumptions [15,16], certainly contributes to
ratios with ZnCl2 .
underestimate the micropore volume as calculated by this method.
Pore size distributions (PSDs) calculated by means of the DFT
obtained from: method from N2 adsorption data. Values below 1 nm can be noticed
V (C0 − Ceq ) in all cases. The width of the distribution increases with increasing
q= (1) Xp . The AC prepared at Xp = 40 wt.% exhibits a maximum at 0.50 nm,
m
which becomes displaced towards larger pore sizes (0.80 nm) at
where V is the volume of the solution (l), m is the amount of sorbent higher Xp values. For all samples this is the maximum. An increase in
(g), C0 and Ceq are the initial and equilibrium concentration in the the pore volume and a displacement towards higher pore sizes can
solution (Cu, mg L−1 ). be clearly noticed as the impregnation ratio increases. Finally, the
mesopore volume also increases with increasing Xp ; for instance,
3. Results and disscusion mesopores only represent 21% of the total pore volume of the AC
prepared at an Xp = 40 wt.%, whereas they amount to 56% for the
3.1. Physical properties of activated carbons obtained sample prepared at Xp = 160 wt.%. From the above results one can
deduce that the ACs obtained at all impregnation ratios are essen-
Fig. 2 shows adsorption isotherms of N2 at 77 K on ACs from tially microporous. Similar effects of the amount but with using this
potato peels impregnated with different amounts of ZnCl2 . The impregnant agent on porosity development have been reported
isotherms are type Ia for the all activated carbons synthesized (typ- for other lignocellulosic precursors [12,13]. It is generally accepted
ical of microporous materials where micropore filling may take that the porosity is generated with ZnCl2 remaining intercalated in
place by primary filling at very low p/p0 ) [10,12,13] without devel- the internal structure of lignocellulosic materials. As the amount of
opment of mesopores [10]. The AC prepared by impregnation at ZnCl2 used increases, the volume filled by it and various polyphos-
all percentages of ZnCl2 gives a type Ia isotherm, that reached a phates will increase, resulting in small pore volume and pore
plateau, indicating reduction of pores. size.
Table 1 reports textural parameters deduced from N2 and
CO2 adsorption isotherms. The BET (SBET ) and micropore [Smicrop. 3.2. Effect of initial pH and isotherm from aqueous solution
(DR, N2 )] surface areas increase with increasing Xp , sharply from
Xp = 100–160 wt.% and less markedly above the latter impregna- The acidity of solution pH is one of the most important param-
tion ratio (40–70 wt.%). The micropore surface areas deduced from eters controlling the uptake of heavy metals from wastewater and
CO2 isotherms [Smicrop. (DRK, CO2 )] go through a maximum at aqueous solutions. The uptake and percentage removal of copper
160 wt.%. The external surface area [Sext. (␣S , N2 )] increases with from the aqueous solution are strongly affected by the pH of the
solution as illustrated in Fig. 3. The uptake of copper increases from
Table 1 0.40 mg/g to 2.07 mg/g when the pH increases from pH 1 to pH
Textural parameters deduced from N2 adsorption at 77 K and CO2 adsorption at 6. Copper sorption is noted to increase significantly at pH 3 with
273 K on ACs prepared at different impregnation ratios (XP ). 0.40 mg/g and 2.07 mg/g adsorption capacity at pH 6 respectively.
Xp (wt.%) N2 CO2 After that the capacity of adsorption decreases slightly in pH range
of 7–10. The minimum adsorption observed at low pH (pH = 1) may
SBET Sext. DFT-method DR-method DRK-method
be due to the fact that the higher concentration and higher mobility
Vumicrop. Vmicrop. Vmp. Smicrop. Vmicrop. Smicrop. Vmicrop. of H+ ions present favored the preferential adsorption of hydro-
40 620 3 0.13 0.18 0.02 657 0.23 600 0.16 gen ions compared to Cu (II) ions. It would be plausible to suggest
70 810 8 0.12 0.20 0.08 834 0.34 790 0.25 that at lower pH value, the surface of the adsorbent is surrounded
110 958 11 0.06 0.24 0.06 976 0.38 880 0.19 by hydronium ions (H+ ), thereby preventing the metal ions from
160 1078 23 0.11 0.26 0.09 1134 0.47 890 0.21
approaching the binding sites of the sorbent. This means that at
Surface areas in m2 g−1 ; pore volumes in cm3 g−1 . higher H+ concentration, the biosorbent surface becomes more pos-
 J.C. Moreno-Piraján, L. Giraldo / Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 90 (2011) 42–47 45

2,5 80

70
2
60

1,5 50
qe,mg/g

qe,mg/g
40
1
30

0,5 20

0
0 2 4 6 8 10
pH
Fig. 3. Effect of pH on adsorption capacity of copper ions on activated carbon CP160.
itively charged such that the attraction between biomass and metal
cations is reduced.
In contrast, as the pH increases, more negatively charged sur-
face becomes available thus facilitating greater copper removal. It
is commonly agreed that the sorption of metal cations increases
with increasing pH as the metal ionic species become less stable
in the solution. However, at higher pH values (pH 9, pH 10, pH 11
and pH 12) there is a decrease in the adsorption capacity. This is
due to the occurrence of copper precipitation. At pH 6 there are
three species present in solution as suggested by Elliot and Huang
[4], Cu2+ in very small quantities and Cu(OH)+ and Cu(OH)2 in large
quantities. Three species are adsorbed at the surface of adsorbent
by ion exchange mechanism with the functional groups present
in adsorbent or by hydrogen bonding. This behavior agrees with
results found by our research group [12,13].
3.3. Adsorption isotherm of copper from aqueous solution
The capacity of the adsorption isotherm is fundamental, and
plays an important role in the determination of the maximum
capacity of adsorption. It also provides a panorama of the course
taken by the system under study in a concise form, indicating
how efficiently a carbon will adsorb and allows an estimate of
the economic viability of the carbons commercial applications for
the specified solute. In order to adapt for the considered system,
an adequate model that can reproduce the experimental results
obtained, equations of Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich–Peterson,
Toth, Vieth–Sladek, Fritz–Schluender, Radke–Prausnitz and Temkin
have been considered. Thus, the non-linearized forms of the dif-
ferent isotherm models were shown in Table 2. Fig. 4 shows the
adsorption of ions copper adjusted of Langmuir model.
10
12 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Ce, mg/L
Fig. 4. Adsorption of copper for ACPP160. Model Langmuir conditions: pH: 7.0,
Temp: 298 K.
Experiments were performed at controlled pH using sodium
hydroxide and sulfuric. The pH of the solutions was regularly
checked and the pH was controlled when the variation was ±0.1.
We have followed the same treatment for our adsorption data from
aqueous solution suggested in [13,17]. For non-linear method, a
trial and error procedure, which is applicable to computer oper-
ation is developed using solver add-in, Microsoft spreadsheet,
Microsoft Excel [17] shows the calculated isotherm parameters and
their corresponding coefficient of determination, r2 , values were
shown in Table 3. From this table, it was observed that the higher r2
values for the three-parameter Sips, Redlich–Peterson and the two-
parameter Langmuir isotherms suggests the applicability of these
models to represent the equilibrium sorption of copper ions by acti-
vated carbon of potato peel particles. In addition to Sips, Langmuir
and Redlich–Peterson isotherm the equilibrium copper ions uptake
by activated carbon of potato peel particles was reasonably well
represented by Toth, Radke–Prausnitz and Vieth–Sladek isotherms
with r2 values of 0.978. The value of Sips isotherm constant mS
and the Redlich–Peterson isotherm constant g equal to unity sug-
gests that the isotherm is approaching the Langmuir isotherm and
not Freundlich isotherm. The lower r2 values for Freundlich and
Table 3
Isotherm parameters for copper ions onto activated carbon ACPP from cassava
potato obtained by non-linear method at 298 K.
Langmuir Freundlich
qm (mg/g) = 62.76464521 KF = 7.654389
KL = 0.087392543 1/nF = 0.482726
r2 = 0.989875464 r2 = 0.958191

Redlich–Peterson Toth isotherm

Table 2
A = 1.993633211 m (mg/g) = 61.54373
Isotherms and the parameters involved in the different equilibrium sorption
B = 0.0752152161 bT = 18.63635
isotherms.
g=1 nT = 1
Isotherm Expression Parameters r2 = 0.987918328 r2 = 0.9767217

Freundlich [15] qe = KF Ce1/nF KF , nF

Radke–Prasunitz Fritz–Schluender
qm KL Ce
Langmuir [16] qe = 1+KL Ce
KL , qm
qm (mg/g) = 62.17633532 qm (mg/g) = 67.326332
ACe KRP = 0.08216262 KFS = 9.133864
Redlich–Peterson [17] qe g KRP , qm , mRP
1+BCe
mRP = 1 mFS = 0.78162
−1/nT
Toth [18] qe = qm Ce (bT + CenT ) bT , nT , qm r2 = 0.989511 r2 = 0.96617
KRP qm Ce
Radke–Prausnitz [19] qe = (1+KRP Ce )m RP
KRP , qm , mRP
Sips Vieth–Sladek
KFS qm Ce
Fritz–Schluender [20] qe = 1+qm Cem
KFS , qm , mFS
qm (mg/g) = 61.9736532 qm (mg/g) = 62.97326
qm (Ks Ce )m S KS = 0.087919217 KVS = 0
Sips [21] qe = 1+(Ks Ce )m S
Ks , qm , ms
mS = 1 ˇ = 0.075486
qm ˇCe
Vieth and Sladek [22] qe = KVS Ce + 1+ˇCe
×q KVS , qm , ˇ r2 = 0.986251911 r2 = 0.98716215
46 J.C. Moreno-Piraján, L. Giraldo / Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 90 (2011) 42–47

Table 4 Table 5
Sorption capacities of several adsorbents for the uptake of ions copper from its Thermodynamic parameters for the adsorption of Cu(II) onto ACPP160.
aqueous.
Temperature (K) G◦ (kJ/mol) H◦ (kJ/mol) S◦ (kJ/mol)
Sorbent Sorption capacity Reference
303 −18.89
Bark pine pulp 45.2 [27] 313 −15.87
Manganese nodule power 40.0 mg/g [28] 323 −13.45
−37.838 −0.08490
Tourmaline 30.0 mg/g [29] 333 −11.45
Bamboo 15.0 mg/g [30] 343 −10.23
Humic acids from Fluka AG and Aldrich 51.47 mg/g [31] 353 −9.76
Activated charcoal 10.20 mg/g [32]
Zeolite 5.0 mg/g [33]
Fungal mycelium pellets of Aspergillus niger 4.5 mg/g [34] and hence resulting in lesser adsorption capacity at higher tem-
Alumina 15.0 mg/g [35]
peratures. The value of H◦ is negative, indicating that adsorption
Clay 18.0 mg/g [36]
Activated carbon of cassava peel 52 mg/g [12,13] process is exothermic in nature. The negative value of S◦ indi-
Activated carbon of potato peel 62 mg/g This study cates the stability of sorption process with no structural change at
solid–liquid interface.

Fritz–Schluender isotherm shows it is not appropriate to use these

4. Conclusions
models to represent the uptake of copper ions by activated car-
bon of potato peel at equilibrium. From data of Table 2, it was
In summary, pyrolysis of potato peel impregnated with chlo-
observed that the Langmuir isotherm have the same coefficient
ride zinc produces materials with a well-developed pore structure
correlation that Redlich–Peterson isotherm so it is possible that
and high adsorption capacities, making possible to attain sur-
these isotherms overlapped by plot. Thus Langmuir is a special case
face areas as high as 1078 m2 g−1 and pore volumes as large as
of Redlich–Peterson when the constant g equals unity. Similarly
0.97 cm3 g−1 . The impregnation ratio has a strong influence on the
from Table 2, it was observed that the three-parameter isotherms
pore structure of these ACs, which can be easily controlled by sim-
Toth, Radke–Prausnitz and Vieth–Sladek isotherms overlapped
ply varying the proportion of chloride zinc used in the activation.
to plotting because each one have the same r2 . This suggests
Thus, low impregnation ratios lead to microporous ACs with low
Toth, Radke–Prausnitz and Vieth–Sladek are the same when the
areas and high impregnation of ZnCl2 achieves high areas. The
Toth isotherm constant, nT , Radke–Prausnitz isotherm constant,
same behavior was present for the development of porosity. At
mRP , equals unity and the Vieth–Sladek isotherm constant, KVS
high impregnation ratios one obtains essentially mesoporous car-
equals zero. The four best-fit three-parameter isotherms Sips,
bons with a high pore volume. The negative value of S◦ shows the
Toth, Radke–Prausnitz and Vieth–Sladek suggests that the sorption
stability of sorption process, whereas the results of H◦ and G◦
capacity of activated carbon of potato peel to uptake copper ions to
indicate the exothermic and spontaneous nature of adsorption pro-
be 62 mg/g. Table 3 shows the sorption capacity of other lignocel-
cess on the surface of ACPP160. The study revealed that this new
lulosic material to uptake copper ions from aqueous solutions for
adsorbent is inexpensive, indigenous, easily available material and
comparison. From the same Table 4, it was observed that copper
has application for the removal of copper contained in industrial
ions sorption capacity of activated carbon of potato peel was found
effluents. Finally, the four best-fit three-parameter isotherms Sips,
to be major adsorption capacity than the other adsorbents porous
Toth, Radke–Prausnitz and Vieth–Sladek suggests that the sorption
materials. Thus the low cost of waste of potato peel can be used
capacity of activated carbon of potato peel to uptake copper ions to
as an adsorbent for the removal of ions of heavy metals bearing
be 74 mg/g.
wastewaters.

3.4. Study thermodynamically of adsorption on ACPP160 Acknowledgements

The effect of temperature, a major factor, influencing the adsorp- The authors would like to thank the Departments of Chemistry
tion was studied in the range of 303–343 K. The thermodynamic of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and of the Universidad
parameters, such as enthalpy (H◦ ), entropy (S◦ ) and Gibb’s free de Los Andes (Colombia) and the Master Agreement established
energy (G◦ ) were estimated using the following relation: between these two institutions. Special gratitude the Fondo Espe-
cial de Investigaciones de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad
Ca de Los Andes (Colombia) for its partial financing of these research.
Kc = (2)
Ce
G0 = −RT ln Kc (3) References

where Kc is the equilibrium constant, Ce the equilibrium concentra-
tion in solution (mg L−1 ) and Ca is the solid phase concentration at
equilibrium (mg L−1 ). Standard enthalpy (H◦ ) and entropy (S◦ )
were determined from Van’t Hoff equation.
S 0 H 0
Log Kc = − (4)
2.303R 2.303RT
H◦ and S◦ were obtained from slope and intercept of the plot
log Kc versus 1/T (are not shown here) and presented in Table 5.
Values of free energy changes G◦ are negative; confirming that
adsorption of copper (II) onto ACPP160 (activated carbon with
capacity major of adsorption of copper) is spontaneous and ther-
modynamically favorable. The more negative values of G◦ imply a
greater driving force to the adsorption process. As the temperature
increases, the G◦ value decreases, indicating less driving force
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