Synthesis of acid treated carbonized mandarin peel for purification of copper

In this study; acid treated carbonized mandarin peel (CMP) adsorbent was prepared and the adsorption behaviour of the adsorbent for copper removal was investigated. In the adsorption studies the effects of initial metal concentration, solution pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time on the removal were investigated. As a result; the highest removal of 100% was achieved when the copper concentration in water was 5 mg/L and the adsorbent dosage was 3.75 g/L at a solution pH of 7. Isotherm studies were also done and the appropriate isotherm was obtained as the Freundlich isotherm. According to the kinetic studies, the copper adsorption onto CMP adsorbent was adopted to the pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic. After HCl regeneration, the adsorbent maintained 94% of its activity.