Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater

Abstract Industrial wastewater discharge without proper treatment causes severe ecological and public health problems. Heavy metals like chromium are pollutants found in untreated or partially treated industrial wastewater. This study investigates the removal of hexavalent chromium ion (Cr (VI)) fro...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Emnet Berhane, Belay Negassa, Kebede Takele Ayansa, Dessalegn Dadi, Samuel Fekadu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Chemistry
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13065-025-01479-1
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850139350468132864
author Emnet Berhane
Belay Negassa
Kebede Takele Ayansa
Dessalegn Dadi
Samuel Fekadu
author_facet Emnet Berhane
Belay Negassa
Kebede Takele Ayansa
Dessalegn Dadi
Samuel Fekadu
author_sort Emnet Berhane
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Industrial wastewater discharge without proper treatment causes severe ecological and public health problems. Heavy metals like chromium are pollutants found in untreated or partially treated industrial wastewater. This study investigates the removal of hexavalent chromium ion (Cr (VI)) from synthetic and tannery wastewater using activated carbon derived from cabbage waste. The cabbage waste was activated with H3PO4 and carbonized at 450 °C. Characterization was performed using proximate analysis, XRD, and FTIR spectroscopy. Batch adsorption studies were conducted under various conditions, including initial chromium concentrations (10–100 mg/L), adsorbent dose (1–20 g/L), contact time (30–300 min), pH (2–11), shaker speed (50–250 rpm), and temperature (20–70 °C). The optimum conditions for maximum chromium removal (99.87%) from synthetic wastewater were pH 3, initial chromium concentration 10 mg/L, shaking speed 150 rpm, contact time 150 min, adsorbent dose 2 g/L, and temperature 25 °C. For tannery wastewater, 83.81% chromium removal was achieved under the same conditions. The Freundlich isotherm model best described the adsorption process, with an adsorption capacity of 4.9 mg/g. The adsorption followed pseudo second order kinetics. The thermodynamics study indicates that the adsorption of Cr (VI) is spontaneous, exothermic and driven by an increase in entropy. A negative value of Gibbs Free Energy change (ΔG°) indicates that the adsorption process is thermodynamically spontaneous and feasible.
format Article
id doaj-art-bbc00b9bf2cf4dac9039307aa3bf03d7
institution OA Journals
issn 2661-801X
language English
publishDate 2025-04-01
publisher BMC
record_format Article
series BMC Chemistry
spelling doaj-art-bbc00b9bf2cf4dac9039307aa3bf03d72025-08-20T02:30:19ZengBMCBMC Chemistry2661-801X2025-04-0119111710.1186/s13065-025-01479-1Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewaterEmnet Berhane0Belay Negassa1Kebede Takele Ayansa2Dessalegn Dadi3Samuel Fekadu4Department of Environmental Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Health Institute, Jimma UniversityDepartment of Environmental Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Health Institute, Jimma UniversityDepartment of Environmental Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Health Institute, Jimma UniversityDepartment of Environmental Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Health Institute, Jimma UniversityDepartment of Environmental Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Public Health, Health Institute, Jimma UniversityAbstract Industrial wastewater discharge without proper treatment causes severe ecological and public health problems. Heavy metals like chromium are pollutants found in untreated or partially treated industrial wastewater. This study investigates the removal of hexavalent chromium ion (Cr (VI)) from synthetic and tannery wastewater using activated carbon derived from cabbage waste. The cabbage waste was activated with H3PO4 and carbonized at 450 °C. Characterization was performed using proximate analysis, XRD, and FTIR spectroscopy. Batch adsorption studies were conducted under various conditions, including initial chromium concentrations (10–100 mg/L), adsorbent dose (1–20 g/L), contact time (30–300 min), pH (2–11), shaker speed (50–250 rpm), and temperature (20–70 °C). The optimum conditions for maximum chromium removal (99.87%) from synthetic wastewater were pH 3, initial chromium concentration 10 mg/L, shaking speed 150 rpm, contact time 150 min, adsorbent dose 2 g/L, and temperature 25 °C. For tannery wastewater, 83.81% chromium removal was achieved under the same conditions. The Freundlich isotherm model best described the adsorption process, with an adsorption capacity of 4.9 mg/g. The adsorption followed pseudo second order kinetics. The thermodynamics study indicates that the adsorption of Cr (VI) is spontaneous, exothermic and driven by an increase in entropy. A negative value of Gibbs Free Energy change (ΔG°) indicates that the adsorption process is thermodynamically spontaneous and feasible.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13065-025-01479-1Activated carbonAdsorptionCabbage wasteHexavalent chromiumTannery wastewater
spellingShingle Emnet Berhane
Belay Negassa
Kebede Takele Ayansa
Dessalegn Dadi
Samuel Fekadu
Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater
BMC Chemistry
Activated carbon
Adsorption
Cabbage waste
Hexavalent chromium
Tannery wastewater
title Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater
title_full Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater
title_fullStr Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater
title_full_unstemmed Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater
title_short Cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater
title_sort cabbage waste derived activated carbon for removing hexavalent chromium from synthetic and tannery wastewater
topic Activated carbon
Adsorption
Cabbage waste
Hexavalent chromium
Tannery wastewater
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13065-025-01479-1
work_keys_str_mv AT emnetberhane cabbagewastederivedactivatedcarbonforremovinghexavalentchromiumfromsyntheticandtannerywastewater
AT belaynegassa cabbagewastederivedactivatedcarbonforremovinghexavalentchromiumfromsyntheticandtannerywastewater
AT kebedetakeleayansa cabbagewastederivedactivatedcarbonforremovinghexavalentchromiumfromsyntheticandtannerywastewater
AT dessalegndadi cabbagewastederivedactivatedcarbonforremovinghexavalentchromiumfromsyntheticandtannerywastewater
AT samuelfekadu cabbagewastederivedactivatedcarbonforremovinghexavalentchromiumfromsyntheticandtannerywastewater