Removal of aluminum from aqueous solutions by adsorption on date-pit and BDH activated carbons

The use of a locally prepared date-pit activated carbon and the commercially available BDH activated carbon for the removal of trivalent aluminum from aqueous solutions was examined at various conditions. In the acidic range of aluminum solubility (up to pH value of 4), both adsorbents exhibited maximum (almost equivalent) capacities for adsorbing aluminum at the pH value of 4. Date-pit activated carbon was more capable of adsorbing traces or low concentrations of aluminum ions in the solution. At low initial concentrations of aluminum and low pH, the uptake of aluminum using date-pit activated carbon was 0.305 mg/g, while that using BDH activated carbon was only 0.021 mg/g. However, the BDH activated carbon was more effective in adsorbing aluminum with high concentrations and low pH. Furthermore, date-pit activated carbon exhibited higher initial adsorption rates as compared to BDH, which showed higher rates at longer periods of time.