Chitosan a Veritable Material for Removal of Some Organic Pollutants in Wastewater: An Empirical Studies

Abstract

In the present study, Chitosan from cockroaches was successfully prepared, characterized by X-ray
diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and tested as adsorbent for the removal of p-Nitrophenol and Naphthalene from aqueous solutions. The influence of process variables solution pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and initial adsorbent concentration on the adsorption was evaluated. The equilibrium data was tested by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models for the best fit. It found the R2 values of 0.9976 for Freundlich isotherm and 0.9903 for
Langmuir isotherm using Naphthalene. R2 values of 0.9843 for Freundlich isotherm and 0.739 for Langmuir isotherm. Maximum removal efficiencies of 98% for Naphthalene at the pH of 6, contact time of 2.5 h, an adsorbent dosage of 2.0 g and initial concentration of 20 mg/L. 92% for p-Nitrophenol
at the pH of 6, contact time of 3.0 h, adsorbent dosage of 2.0 g and initial concentration of 60 mg/L were obtained respectively. This result shows that the prepared adsorbent has the capacity for the removal of Naphthalene and p-Nitrophenol from wastewater.