Several researchers have prepared activated carbon (or charcoal) from bamboo by chemical activation using phosphoric acid for the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color of cotton textile mill wastewater [18]. Ip et al. [19] produced activated carbons from the natural biomaterial bamboo, using phosphoric acid as the activating agent to adsorb acid red 18 dye from aqueous solution, Hameed et al. [20] prepare activated carbon from bamboo by
physiochemical activation with potassium hydroxide (KOH) and carbon dioxide (CO2) as the activating agents for the adsorption of methylene blue, Liu et al. [21] prepared activated carbon from bamboo by microwave-induced phosphoric acid activation, Hameed and El-Khaiary [22] also prepared activated carbon from bamboo by K2CO3 activation and subsequent gasification with CO2.
As per literature survey, there are no studies on the adsorption of Ni(II) and Zn(II) ions using M. baccifera raw charcoal (MBRC) and activated charcoal (MBAC). Therefore in the present study, M.baccifera raw and activated charcoals have been used for the removal of individual metal ions, Ni(II) and Zn(II) from aqueous solutions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to characterize the surface structure
and surface functional groups, respectively. The present study also reports the effect of such factors as chemical pretreatment, initial pH, adsorbent dose, initial metal ion concentration and contact time on the adsorption efficiency of these metal ions from aqueous solutions by MBRC and MBAC. The isotherms of adsorption have been studied and various isotherm models, such as Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) models have been tested. Kinetics have
also been studied using pseudo-first-order, and pseudo-second-order models, which have been tested with experimental data for their validity.