Effect of nitric acid treatment on the paracetamol adsorption of activated adsorbents from groundnut shells

Two adsorbents were obtained by thermal activation (TA) and thermal and chemical activation (TCA) on groundnut shells. For to characterize the surface charges and functional groups on the TA and TCA adsorbents, the pH to point of zero charge (pHPZC) and Fourier transform Infra-Red (FTIR) Spectroscopy were used. Four isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Jovanovic and Temkin) were tested for modeling the adsorption isotherms by nonlinear method. The model of Langmuir described best the adsorption on TA and TCA with the maximal quantities adsorbed were 3.19 and 13.85 mg g-1, respectively. This study has demonstrated that TCA can be used as a novel adsorbent for the treatment of water contaminated with pharmaceutical products