Desalination 255 (2010) 159164

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Desalination
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / d e s a l

Batch adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenol onto activated carbon derived from

agricultural waste
F.W. Shaarani, B.H. Hameed
School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 6 September 2009
Received in revised form 20 December 2009
Accepted 25 December 2009
Available online 2 February 2010
Keywords:
Oil palm empty fruit bunch
2,4-Dichlorophenol
Adsorption
Isotherm
Kinetics
Activated carbon

a b s t r a c t
The potential feasibility of activated carbon derived from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) for the removal of
2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) from aqueous solution was studied. The activated carbon was prepared via
chemical activation with phosphoric acid. The effect of contact time, initial concentration (25250 mg/L),
temperature (3050 C) and pH (212) were investigated. The experimental data were analyzed by the
Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The equilibrium data were best represented by Langmuir isotherm
model, with a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 232.56 mg/g at 30 C. The adsorption kinetics was
well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The empty fruit bunch based activated carbon
(EFBAC) was shown to be a promising material for adsorption of 2,4-DCP from aqueous solutions.
2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Phenols and its derivatives are one of the most common environmental contaminants. They are vastly used as intermediates in the
synthesis of plastics, colours, pesticides, insecticides, etc. Most of
these compounds are recognized as carcinogens [1]. According to the
Environmental Protection Agency in USA, phenols and its derivatives
are considered to constitute the 11th of the 126 chemicals which have
been designated as priority pollutants, [2] whereas referring to the
Environmental Quality Act of Malaysia, the permissible limits for
phenolic compounds in industrial efuents before discharging into
municipal sewers and surface water is 0.001 mg/L [3].
Phenols in the presence of chlorine will react and form chlorophenol, which is quite pronounced with a medicinal taste and objectionable when it gets mixed with drinking water. 2,4-Dichlorophenol
(2,4-DCP) is a chlorinated aromatic that is a primary reagent in the
synthesis of a variety of more highly chlorinated phenols (i.e., pentachlorophenol) and pesticides (i.e., 2, 4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid).
2,4-DCP is a colourless, crystalline solid which is slightly soluble in
water at neutral pH (0.45% at 25 C) and very soluble in alcohol, ether,
and benzene. 2,4-DCP acts as a weak acid with pKa = 7.90 [4].
Environmental contamination by 2,4-DCP may occur as a result
of microbial degradation or photodecomposition of the herbicides,
from chlorination of drinking water and industrial wastewater and

Corresponding author. Fax: +60 45941013.

E-mail address: chbassim@eng.usm.my (B.H. Hameed).
0011-9164/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.desal.2009.12.029

municipal wastewater by water disinfection plants, or from agricultural runoff or industrial waste discharges [4].
One of the most frequently used methods and unequivocally
effective solution designed to remove phenolic derivatives is adsorption. Adsorption is a process, which involves the contact of a free
aqueous phase with a rigid particulate phase, which has the propensity to remove or store one or more solutes present in the solution
selectively [5]. Activated carbon is the most widely used adsorbent
for the removal of pollutants from wastewater [6]. This is due to its
extended surface area, microporous structure, high adsorption capacity and high degree of surface reactivity. However commercially
available activated carbons are very expensive, the higher the quality
the greater the cost thus they may not be economical for wastewater
treatment [7]. This has led to the search of new agricultural based
activated carbon as a substitute to the existing activated carbon.
In Malaysia, the palm oil industry generates huge amount of solid
waste consisting of oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB), ber and fruit
shell during the palm fruits processing. It was estimated that the
amount of EFB available in Malaysia in a year is about 4.43 million
tonnes (dry wt). At present, 65% of the EFB generated is incinerated
and the bunch ash recycled back to the plantation as fertilizer. However, incineration for bunch ash is not environmentally acceptable
due to the emission of white smoke with some y ash [8]. To diversify
this abundantly available waste, it has been proposed to convert it
into activated carbons.
Activated carbon can be manufactured by physical or chemical
activation. In physical activation two stages are involved, i.e. carbonization in an inert atmosphere at a temperature below 700 C

160

F.W. Shaarani, B.H. Hameed / Desalination 255 (2010) 159164

and then activation in the presence of steam, carbon dioxide and/or

air at higher temperatures (8001000 C). In contrast to physical
activation, chemical activation is carried out in only one stage at
much lower temperature (400800 C) in the presence of dehydrating agents such as ZnCl2, H3PO4, and KOH [9]. The advantages of
chemical activation are low energy cost due to lower temperature of
process and higher product yield [10].
Currently EFB prepared activated carbon has been utilized for the
removal of phenol [11], 2,4-dichlorophenol [12] and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol [13]. For adsorption of phenol, EFBAC were prepared via
physical activation and thermal activation. In adsorption of 2,4-DCP
from aqueous solution, the activated carbon was produced by thermal
activation at 800 C for 30 min while for the removal 2,4,6-trichlorophenol, it was prepared using physiochemical activation method
consisting of potassium hydroxide (KOH) treatment followed by carbon dioxide (CO2). None of the methods above involved preparation
of activated carbon by EFB via chemical activation.
The objective of this work was to evaluate the adsorption potential of oil palm empty fruit bunch based activated carbon (EFBAC)
prepared via chemical activation using phosphoric acid for the removal of 2,4-DCP from aqueous solution. The equilibrium and kinetics
data of the adsorption process were then analyzed to study the adsorption characteristics and mechanism of adsorption.

the solution was kept original without any pH adjustment. Aqueous samples were taken from the solution and the concentrations
were analyzed. All samples were ltered prior to analysis in order to
minimize interference of the carbon nes with the analysis. Each
experiment was duplicated under identical conditions. The concentrations of 2,4-DCP before and after adsorption were determined
using a double beam UVVis spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, Japan)
at 280 nm. The amount adsorbed at equilibrium, qe (mg/g), was calculated by:

2. Materials and methods

2.5. Effect of solution pH

2.1. Preparation and characterization of activated carbon

The effect of solution pH on the 2,4-DCP removal was examined by

varying the initial pH of the solutions from pH 2 to 12. The pH was
adjusted using 0.1 M HCl and/or 0.1 M NaOH and was measured using
pH meter (Model Ecoscan, EUTECH Instruments, Singapore). The 2,4DCP initial concentration was xed at 100 mg/L, with activated carbon
dosage of 0.2 g/100 mL and solution temperature of 30 C.

The EFB used for preparation of activated carbon in this study

was obtained from local Palm Oil Mill, Nibong Tebal, Malaysia. As
received, the precursor was washed, sun dried, and crushed to a
particle size of 12 mm. The pre-treated precursor was then soaked
with 20 wt.% of phosphoric acid solution with an impregnation ratio
of 16:1 (acid: precursor). The mixture of precursor and acid solution
was then left overnight at room temperature. Subsequently the precursor was ltered from phosphoric acid solution and then was dehydrated in the oven at 105 C for 24 h. The impregnated precursor
was then placed inside the tubular tube in the stainless steel reactor
for activation. Activation takes place at 450 C with constant heating
rate 10 C/min, under puried nitrogen (99.995%) ow of 150 cm3/
min for 2 h before it was cooled down to room temperature. The
nal product was then washed with 0.1 M hydrochloric acid and hot
distilled water until the pH of the washing solution reached 67,
then dried in the oven at 105 C for 24 h and nally kept in an airtight
container for further use.
Textural characterization of the activated carbon was carried out
by N2 adsorption at 77 K using Micromeritics (Model ASAP 2020, US).
The BrunauerEmmettTeller (BET) is the most common standard
procedure used when characterizing an activated carbon [14]. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) (Leica Cambridge S-360) analysis
was carried out for the prepared activated carbon to study the surface
morphology and to verify the porosity.
2.2. 2,4-Dichlorophenol
2,4-Dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) of analytical reagent grade (Merck)
was used as an adsorbate in this study. 2,4-DCP has a chemical formula of C6H3Cl2OH, with a molecular weight of 163.0 g/mol.
2.3. Batch equilibrium studies
Batch adsorption was performed in a set of 250 mL Erlenmeyer
asks where 200 mL of 2,4-DCP solutions with various initial concentrations (25250 mg/L) were placed in these asks. Equal mass of
EFBAC (0.20 g) was added to each ask and kept in an isothermal
shaker (30 C) at 130 rpm for 24 h to reach equilibrium. The pH of

qe = C0 Ce V = W

where Co and Ce (mg/L) are the liquid-phase concentrations of 2,4DCP at initial and equilibrium, respectively. V (L) is the volume of the
solution and W (g) is the mass of dry adsorbent used.
2.4. Effect of temperature
The effect of temperature on the adsorption capacity and kinetics
of the EFBAC on 2,4-DCP was studied by varying the adsorption temperature at 30, 40 and 50 C, while other operating parameters (initial 2,4-DCP concentration, activated carbon dosage, pH and agitation
speed) remained the same.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Textural characterization of prepared activated carbon
Table 1 summarizes the surface area and pore volume properties of
EFBAC. The BET surface area was found to be 1031.515 m/g whereas
the total pore volume of EFBAC was 0.583 cm/g. Fig. 1 shows the SEM
image of the derived activated carbon. Many large pores were clearly
found on the surface of the activated carbon. The well-developed
pores have led to the large surface area and porous structure of the
activated carbon.
3.2. Effect of initial 2,4-DCP concentration and contact time on 2,4-DCP
adsorption
Fig. 2 shows the adsorption capacity versus the adsorption time
at various initial 2,4-DCP concentrations. It is clear that adsorption of
2,4-DCP on activated carbon depends on its initial concentration.
An increase in the concentration led to an increase in the amount of
2,4-DCP adsorbed on activated carbon. This may be attributed to an
increase in the driving force of the concentration gradient with the
increase in the initial 2,4-DCP concentration. The amount of 2,4-DCP
adsorbed increased from 22.936 to 185.185 mg/g as the concentration was increased from 25 to 250 mg/L. Sathishkumar et al. reported

Table 1
Surface area and pore volume properties of EFBAC.
Properties
BET surface area (m2/g)
Total pore volume (cm3/g)
Average pore diameter (nm)

1031.515
0.583
2.261

F.W. Shaarani, B.H. Hameed / Desalination 255 (2010) 159164

161

Fig. 3. Effect of solution temperature on 2,4-DCP uptake at various initial concentrations.

Fig. 1. SEM image of EFBAC (magnication = 500).

3.4. Effect of solution pH

similar result for the adsorption of 2,4-DCP on maize cob activated
carbon [15].
It is also apparent from Fig. 2 that the contact time needed for 2,4DCP solutions with initial concentrations of 25100 mg/L to reach
equilibrium was less than 2 h. However, for 2,4-DCP solutions with
higher initial concentrations, longer equilibrium times were required.
This observation could be explained by the fact that in the process of
adsorption, initially the adsorbate molecules had to rst encounter
the boundary layer effect and then diffuse from the boundary layer
lm onto adsorbent surface and then nally, they had to diffuse into
the porous structure of the adsorbent [16]. This phenomenon took a
relatively long contact time. Therefore, 2,4-DCP solutions with higher
initial concentrations would take a longer contact time to attain
equilibrium due to the higher amount of 2,4-DCP molecules to be
adsorbed. A similar phenomenon was observed on the adsorption of
phenol by carbonaceous adsorbents derived from coconut shell and
the equilibrium time attained was 5 h [17].
3.3. Effect of temperature on adsorption capacity of activated carbon
Fig. 3 shows the effect of solution temperature on the uptake of
2,4-DCP by EFBAC at various initial concentrations (25250 mg/L). It
exemplies that the increase of temperature slightly increased the
removal of 2,4-DCP, indicating the endothermic nature of the
adsorption reaction. In addition, changing the temperature will
change the equilibrium capacity of the adsorbent for a particular
adsorbate [18]. This observation is in agreement with Tan et al. who
reported that the uptake of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol on activated carbon
increases as the solution temperature increases [13].

Fig. 2. Adsorption capacity versus adsorption time at various initial 2,4-DCP concentrations (25250 mg/L) at 30 C.

The effect of pH on adsorption of 2,4-DCP was studied over a pH

range of 212 with the initial concentration of 2,4-DCP xed at
100 mg/L. As shown in Fig. 4, the adsorption capacity of 2,4-DCP
decreases with increase in pH of the solution. The highest uptake was
achieved at pH 2, with 2,4-DCP uptake as high as 91.57 mg/g whereas the lowest uptake was recorded at pH 12 with only 55.88 mg/g.
This observation is similar with the trend reported by Hameed et al.,
[19] and Gao and Wang [20]. The behaviour clearly suggests that
the adsorption was dominated by the interaction between undissociated organic compounds and the organophilic nature of the adsorbent surface.

3.5. Adsorption isotherms

Adsorption isotherms are usually determined under equilibrium
conditions. It indicates how the adsorption molecules distribute between the liquid phase and the solid phase when the adsorption
process reaches an equilibrium state. The analysis of the isotherm data
by tting them to different isotherm models is an important step
to nd the suitable model that can be used for design purpose [21].
Several models have been published in the literature to describe
the experimental data of adsorption isotherms. The most frequently
employed models are Langmuir and Freundlich were used to describe
the relationship between the amount of adsorbate adsorbed and its
equilibrium concentration. The applicability of the isotherm equation
to describe the adsorption process was judged by the correlation
coefcient R2 values.

Fig. 4. Effect of solution pH on 2,4-DCP removal at 30 C (2,4-DCP initial concentration =

100 mg/L).

162

F.W. Shaarani, B.H. Hameed / Desalination 255 (2010) 159164

The linear form of Langmuir's isotherm [22] model is given by

Eq. (2):
Ce = qe =

 .
1


.
1
Q 0 Ce +
Q 0b

where Ce (mg/L) is the equilibrium concentration of the adsorbate,

qe (mg/g) is the amount of adsorbate adsorbed per unit mass of
adsorbent, Qo and b are Langmuir constants related to adsorption
capacity and the adsorption equilibrium constant, respectively.
For the Langmuir isotherm, when Ce/qe is plotted against Ce, a
straight line with slope of 1/Qo is obtained as shown in Fig. 5. The
correlation coefcient, R2 of 0.999 indicated that the adsorption data
of 2,4-DCP on the EFBAC was well tted to the Langmuir isotherm.
The Langmuir constants b and Qo were calculated from Eq. (2) and are
listed in Table 2.
Conformation of the experimental data with the Langmuir isotherm model indicates the homogeneous nature of oil palm empty
fruit bunch carbon surface, i.e., each 2,4-DCP molecule/EFBAC adsorption has equal adsorption activation energy; the results also demonstrate the formation of monolayer coverage of 2,4-DCP molecule at
the outer surface of prepared EFBAC.
The essential characteristics of the Langmuir isotherm can be expressed in terms of a dimensionless equilibrium parameter (RL) [23].
The parameter is dened by:
RL = 1 = 1 + bC0

where b is the Langmuir constant and Co (mg/L) is the highest initial 2,4-DCP concentration. The parameter RL indicates the shape of
isotherm as follows;
Value of RL

Type of isotherm

RL > 1
RL = 1
0 < RL < 1
RL = 0

Unfavorable
Linear
Favorable
Irreversible

Table 2
Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm model constants and correlation coefcients.
Langmuir isotherm
Qo (mg/g)
b (L/mg)
R2
RL
Freundlich isotherm
n
KF [(mg/g)(L/mg)1/n]
R2

232.560
0.060
0.999
0.063

1.689
18.806
0.962

adsorption or distribution coefcient and represents the quantity

of 2,4-DCP adsorbed onto activated carbon for a unit equilibrium
concentration. The slope of 1/n ranging between 0 and 1 is a measure
of adsorption intensity or surface heterogeneity, becoming more heterogeneous as its value gets closer to zero. A value for 1/n below one
indicates a normal Langmuir isotherm while 1/n above one is indicative of cooperative adsorption. The plot of log qe versus log Ce (Fig. 6)
gave a straight line with slope of 1/n whereas KF was calculated from
the intercept value. The constants (KF , n and R2) are listed in Table 2.
As illustrated in Table 2, the value of n is 1.689 which indicates
favorable adsorption [25,26]. The correlation coefcient, R2 for
Freundlich isotherm is 0.962. Comparing the R2 values for both isotherms, it showed that the adsorption data obtained are better tted
to the Langmuir isotherm model.
Table 3 lists the comparison of the maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of various types of chlorophenols on various adsorbents.
The activated carbon prepared in this work showed relatively large
2,4-DCP adsorption capacity of 232.56 mg/g, as compared to some
previous works reported in the literature.
3.6. Kinetic studies

Value of RL was found to be 0.063 at T = 30 C. This again

conrmed that the Langmuir isotherm was favorable for adsorption
of 2,4-DCP on the EFBAC used in this study. The well-known linear
form of Freundlich isotherm [24] is given by the following equation:

3.6.1. Pseudo-rst-order model

A linear form of pseudo-rst-order model was described by Lagergren
and Svenska [27] in the form:
logqe qt = log qe k1 = 2:303t

where Ce (mg/L) is the equilibrium concentration of the adsorbate,

qe (mg/g) is the amount of adsorbate adsorbed per unit mass of
adsorbent, KF (mg/g (L/mg) 1/n) and n are Freundlich constants with n
giving an indication of how favorable the adsorption process. KF is the
adsorption capacity of the adsorbent which can be dened as the

where qe and qt refer to the amount of 2,4-DCP adsorbed (mg/g) at

equilibrium and at any time, t (h), respectively, and k1 is the equilibrium rate constant of pseudo-rst-order sorption (1/h).
As such, the values of log (qe qt) for 2,4-DCP were calculated and
plotted against time. If the plots were found to be linear with good
correlation coefcient, indicating that Lagergren's equation is appropriate to 2,4-DCP adsorption on EFBAC. So, the adsorption process is
a pseudo-rst-order process. The pseudo-rst-order rate constants

Fig. 5. Langmuir adsorption isotherm of 2,4-DCP onto EFBAC at 30 C.

Fig. 6. Pseudo-rst-order kinetics for adsorption of 2,4-DCP on EFBAC at 30 C.

log qe = 1 = n log Ce + log KF

F.W. Shaarani, B.H. Hameed / Desalination 255 (2010) 159164

163

Table 3
Comparison of maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of various chlorophenols on
various adsorbents.
Adsorbent

Adsorbate

Maximum monolayer
adsorption capacity
(mg/g)

Reference

EFBAC
Rattan sawdust
activated carbon
Maize cob carbon
Palm pith carbon
Oil palm empty
fruit bunch
Activated carbon ber

2,4-Dichlorophenol
4-Chlorophenol

232.56
188.68

This work
[31]

2,4-Dichlorophenol
2,4-Dichlorophenol
2,4-Dichlorophenol

17.94
19.16
27.25

[15]
[36]
[12]

2,4-Dichlorophenol

372.00

[30]

were calculated from the slope of the plots (Fig. 6). From the results
obtained, although the correlation coefcient values at high concentration are higher than 0.90, the experimental qe values do not agree
with the calculated ones, obtained from the linear plots (Table 4). This
indicates that the adsorption of 2,4-DCP onto EFBAC is not obeying
pseudo-rst-order kinetics model.

Fig. 7. Pseudo-second-order kinetics for adsorption of 2,4-DCP on EFBAC at 30 C.

3.6.2. Pseudo-second-order
The pseudo-second-order equation [28] is expressed as:
2

t = qt = 1 = k2 qe + 1 = qe t

where qe and qt are the adsorption capacities at equilibrium and at

time t, respectively (mg/g) and k2 (g/mg h) is the rate constant of
pseudo-second-order sorption. By plotting t/qt versus t (Fig. 7), qe
and k2 can be determined from slope and intercept. The linear plot of
t/qt versus t at 30 C, as shown in Fig. 7, yielded R2 values that were
greater than 0.990 for all 2,4-DCP concentrations. It also showed a
good agreement between the experimental and the calculated qe
values (Table 4), indicating the applicability of this model to describe
the adsorption process of 2,4-DCP onto the prepared activated carbon.
Similar kinetics were also observed for the removal of 2-chlorophenol
by coir pith carbon [29], 2,4-DCP by activated carbon ber [30] and
4-chlorophenol on rattan sawdust activated carbon [31].

Fig. 8. Plot of intraparticle diffusion model for adsorption of 2,4-DCP onto EFBAC at
30 C.

different range of 2,4-DCP initial concentrations at 30 C. It was observed

that the linear plots at each concentration did not pass through the
origin. This indicates that the intraparticle diffusion was not only ratecontrolling step. Such trend was reported by several researchers on their
previous investigation on adsorption [3335].
3.7. Validity of kinetic model

3.6.3. Intraparticle diffusion model

Intraparticle diffusion model based on the theory proposed by
Weber and Morris [32], was tested to identify the diffusion mechanism.
According to this theory:
1
2

qt = kid t + C

where C is the intercept and kid (mg/g h1/2) is the intraparticle diffusion
rate constant, which can be evaluated from the slope of the linear plot of
qt versus t1/2. The intercept of the plot reects the boundary layer effect.
The larger the intercept, the greater the contribution of the surface
sorption in the rate-controlling step. If the regression of qt versus t1/2 is
linear, and passes through the origin, then intraparticle diffusion is the
sole rate-limiting step. Fig. 8 illustrates the plots of qt versus t1/2 for

Kinetic model used to describe the adsorption process was veried

by the normalized standard deviation, q (%), which is dened as:
q% =

r
h

i
qexp qcal =qexp

= N1

where N is the number of data points, qexp and qcal (mg/g) are the
experimental and calculated adsorption capacity, respectively. The
lower the value of q the better the model ts. Listed in Table 4 are the
calculated values of q determined for the two kinetic models. It is
clearly shown that the pseudo-second-order kinetic model yielded
the lower q values. This is in agreement with the R2 values obtained
earlier and proves that the adsorption of 2,4-DCP onto the EFBAC

Table 4
Comparison of the pseudo-rst-order model and pseudo-second-order model for adsorption of 2,4-DCP on EFBAC at 30 C.
Initial 2,4-DCP
concentration
(mg/L)

qe, exp
(mg/g)

25
50
100
150
200
250

23.3022
46.9268
89.6500
127.9730
159.0220
181.3430

Pseudo-rst-order kinetic model

Pseudo-second-order kinetic model

qe, cal
(mg/g)

k1
(1/h)

R2

q
(%)

qe, cal
(mg/g)

k2
(g/mg h)

R2

q
(%)

2.5948
20.7683
20.0124
50.7107
76.7538
102.9438

0.6851
2.4430
0.7830
0.8189
0.8945
0.8701

0.9801
0.9634
0.9835
0.9827
0.984
0.9916

33.5877
21.0689
29.3592
22.8192
19.5536
16.3404

22.9358
49.5050
87.7193
126.5823
161.2903
185.1852

1.2673
0.1943
0.1444
0.0480
0.0275
0.0182

0.9998
0.9994
0.9994
0.9962
0.9990
0.9972

0.5943
2.0766
0.8140
0.4107
0.5391
0.8008

164

F.W. Shaarani, B.H. Hameed / Desalination 255 (2010) 159164

could be best described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model

which is based on the equilibrium chemical adsorption.
4. Conclusion
Activated carbon prepared from EFB via chemical activation using
phosphoric acid was found to be effective to remove 2,4-DCP from
aqueous solution. The adsorption equilibrium was best described by
the Langmuir isotherm model with maximum monolayer adsorption
capacity of 232.56 mg/g at 30 C. Over the range of concentration
studied, the adsorption kinetic obeys the pseudo-second-order model
which proves that the chemical adsorption is a rate-controlling
parameter in this adsorption study. These indicate that oil palm empty
fruit bunch is a promising activated carbon precursor.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the research grant provided by University of Science Malaysia under The Fundamental Research Grant
Scheme (FRGS) (Project No: 6070015).
References
[1] A. Dbrowski, P. Podkocielny, Z. Hubicki, M. Barczak, Chemosphere 58 (2005)
10491070.
[2] F. Caturla, J.M. Martin-Martinez, M. Molina-Sabio, F. Rodriguez-Reinoso, R. Torregrosa,
J. Colloid Interface Sci. 124 (1988) 528534.
[3] Environmental Quality Act, Sewage and Industrial Efuent in Environment Quality
Act and Regulations, Laws of Malaysia, MDC Publisher, Kuala Lumpur, 2001.
[4] R. Melnick, Toxicology and carcinogenesis studies of 2, 4- dicholorophenol in F344/
N rats and B6C3F1 mice (feed studies), National Toxicology Program Technical
Report, 1989.

[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]

Y.C. Wong, Y.S. Szeto, W.H. Cheung, G. McKay, Process Biochem. 39 (2004) 693702.
G. Crini, Bioresour. Technol. 97 (2006) 10611085.
T.C. Chandra, M.M. Mirna, Y. Sudaryanto, S. Ismadji, Chem. Eng. J. 127 (2007) 121129.
R. Mat Soom, W.H. Wan Hassan, A.G. Md Top, K. Hassan, J. Oil Palm Res. 18 (2006)
272277.
Y. Diao, W.P. Walawender, L.T. Fan, Bioresour. Technol. 81 (2002) 4552.
D. Prahas, Y. Kartika, N. Indraswati, S. Ismadji, Chem. Eng. J. 140 (2008) 3242.
M.Z. Alam, S.A. Muyibi, M.F. Mansor, R. Wahid, J. Environ. Sci. 19 (2007) 103108.
M.Z. Alam, S.A. Muyibi, J. Toramae, J. Environ. Sci. 19 (2007) 674677.
I.A.W. Tan, A.L. Ahmad, B.H. Hameed, J. Hazard. Mater. 164 (2009) 473482.
K.S.W. Sing, D.H. Everett, R.A.W. Haul, L. Moscou, R.A. Pierotti, J. Rouquerol, C.
Sieminiewska, Pure Appl. Chem. 57 (1985) 603619.
M. Sathishkumar, A.R. Binupriya, D. Kavitha, R. Selvakumar, R. Jayabalan, J.G. Choi,
S.E. Yun, Chem. Eng. J. 147 (2009) 265271.
D.S. Faust, M.O. Aly, Chemistry of Wastewater Treatment, Butterworths, Boston,
1983.
A.T. Mohd Din, B.H. Hameed, A.L. Ahmad, J. Hazard. Mater. 161 (2009) 15221529.
S. Wang, Z.H. Zhu, Dyes Pigm. 75 (2007) 306314.
B.H. Hameed, I.A.W. Tan, A.L. Ahmad, Chem. Eng. J. 144 (2008) 235244.
R. Gao, J. Wang, J. Hazard. Mater. 145 (2007) 398403.
M. El-Guendi, Adsorpt. Sci. Technol. 8 (2) (1991) 217225.
I. Langmuir, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 38 (11) (1916) 22212295.
T.W. Weber, R.K. Chakkravorti, AIChE J. 20 (1974) 228238.
H.M.F. Freundlich, J. Phys. Chem. 57 (1906) 385470.
R.E. Treybal, Mass Transfer Operations, 2nd ed.McGraw Hill, New York, 1968.
Y.S. Ho, G. McKay, Chem. Eng. J. 70 (1998) 115124.
S. Lagergren, B.K. Svenska, Veternskapsakad Handlingar 24 (4) (1898) 139.
Y.S. Ho, G. McKay, Water Res. 34 (2000) 735742.
C. Namasivayam, D. Kavitha, J. Hazard. Mater. B98 (2003) 257274.
J.P. Wang, H.M. Feng, H.Q. Yu, J. Hazard. Mater. 144 (2007) 200207.
B.H. Hameed, L.H. Chin, S. Rengaraj, Desalination 225 (2008) 185198.
W.J. Weber, J.C. Morris, Proceedings of the International Conference on Water
Pollution Symposium, vol. 2, Pergamon, Oxford, 1962 pp. 231266.
F.C. Wu, R.L. Tseng, R.S. Juang, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 283 (2005) 4956.
I.A.W. Tan, B.H. Hameed, A.L. Ahmad, Chem. Eng. J. 127 (2007) 111119.
K. Mohanty, D. Das, M.N. Biswas, Chem. Eng. J. 115 (2005) 121131.
M. Sathishkumar, A.R. Binupriya, D. Kavitha, S.E. Yun, Bioresour. Technol. 98 (2007)
866873.