Modification of activated carbon using sodium acetate and its regeneration using sodium hydroxide for the adsorption of copper from aqueous solution

Activated carbon from coconut shell was modified with sodium acetate at concentrations of 10% and 15%, and used in a fixed-bed column to study the adsorption of copper ions. Synthetic wastewater containing 258 mg/l of Cu was passed through plain activated carbon and modified activated carbon. Plain activated carbon was able to adsorb 20 mg of Cu, and activated carbon modified by treatment with 10% sodium acetate adsorbed 33 mg of Cu. The highest adsorption capacity was found for the activated carbon modified by treatment with 15% sodium acetate, which adsorbed 45 mg of Cu; i.e. 2.2 times as much as the plain activated carbon. After regeneration with 0.71 M NaOH, the activated carbon modified by treatment with 15% sodium acetate was able to adsorb 60 mg of Cu; i.e. three times as much as the plain activated carbon.