Abstract
This study investigated a polyaniline decorated macadamia nutshell composite (MNS-PANI) adsorbent for the removal of highly toxic Cr(VI) and the efficient catalytic activity of the spent adsorbent for reuse. The composite adsorbent was successfully synthesised and the functional groups present were confirmed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The diffraction patterns were examined with X-ray diffractometry (XRD) while the structure and surface morphology were assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The elemental composition of the adsorbent was studied using energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) was used to estimate the surface area while the thermal stability was studied using thermogravimetric analyser. Batch adsorption studies were further carried out to study the adsorptive behaviour of MNS-PANI with Cr(VI), and the effects of pH, contact time, adsorbent dose, initial Cr(VI) concentration and temperature were studied. The Cr(VI) loaded MNS-PANI was further applied in the degradation of ciprofloxacin...
M.Sc. (Chemistry)