The Effectiveness of Activated Surface Kapok on Removal of Heavy Metal in Wastewater

Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) fiber is a natural hollow fiber with thin shell and large cavity. It is seldom used as adsorbent for heavy metal ions. In this paper, kapok fibers is chemically modified using Diammonium Hydrogen Phosphate, (NH4)2HPO4 by impregnation treatment step after the pre-oxidation step to produce an activated surface kapok. Activated surface kapok has greater porosity that will increase the adsorption rate. Lead (Pb2+) ionic solution is used as the test material. The effectiveness of the low cost activated carbon prepared from kapok fibers, for the removal of lead from aqueous solution is investigated using experimental parameters including solution pH, contact time, adsorbent dose and initial metal ions concentration. The amount of metal residue in the solution is analyze using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy method. Results show that heavy metal removal is optimum at pH 6.0, equilibrium contact time of 1 hour, kapok dose of 0.3 mg and initial concentration of 40 – 50 mg/L. Activated surface kapok is proven to be effective for removing heavy metals in wastewater.