Adsorbent from Pongamia Pinnata Tree Bark for Zinc Adsorption

In the recent years, Pongamia pinnata trees are widely grown at farms for its seeds utilised for biofuel activities. Due to the easy availability of this tree bark, it is used as a viable adsorbent for removing some heavy metals from aqueous and waste water. In this context, the adsorption of Zinc on prepared adsorbent is very effective. In this study, investigations were made for the adsorption of zinc ions from aqueous and waste water. Batch adsorption studies to determine the optimum conditions of zinc ion removal were conducted to know the influence of experimental conditions such as pH of the solution, metal ion concentration, amount of adsorbent and contact time at room temperature. The results obtained show that the optimum pH range for the zinc removal is 5–5.4 and adsorption percent is higher than 95%. Kinetic study was also made to determine rate constants.