Bicol University

College of Engineering
Legazpi City, Albay

Methods of Research

Critical Review
In
Adsorption of Copper by Raw Pinecone

Submitted by:
WELLINGTON N. FLORES JR.
BSChE 4

Submitted to:
ENGR. MICHELLE A. CANARIA
Professor

Review: A. O. Adeyemo1, K. O. Adebowale and B. I. Olu-Owolabi, Adsorption of Copper by Raw

Pinecone, American Chemical Science Journal
This research aims to to study the possibility of using pinecone as an inexpensive sorbent material
for the removal 6 of copper ions in solution. The Title and Abstract are suggestive for the papers content
The authors of this research conducted the place of study at the Department of Chemistry,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The authors are affiliated with Department of Chemical
Sciences, Southwestern University, Okun-Owa, Ogun State, Nigeria. and Department of Chemistry,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. With these qualifications, they are qualified to conduct
this research.
The introduction section of the research tackles on the release of many toxic heavy metals
specifically Copper (Cu2+) to the environment by different processing industries. Different methods were
discussed on how to recover heavy toxic metals from wastewater. Adsorption was one of the preferred
methods because of its ease of operation. This work aims at evaluating the possibility of using pinecones
as an inexpensive sorbent material for the removal of Cu2+ from aqueous solution.
The Materials and Methods section presents the collection and preparation of pinecones and
chemicals, the batch experiments that were conducted in polyethylene bottles. The pH value of the
solutions were measured using pH meter. At the end of each experiment, a sample of
the suspension was separated by filtration to remove pinecone particles. The filtrate was
then analyzed for residual copper ions. There are no ethical issues to be addressed in the methodologies
employed in this research since it does not use any ethically sensitive procedures.
Results and Discussion: 3.1. Effect of pH:The pH of the solutions were conditioned using 0.1M
NaOH and 0.1M HCl to pH of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and the suspensions agitated at room temperature.There
was an increase in amount adsorbed up till pH of 6 after which a decrease was observed. At a lower
pH,the amount ofH+ ions present is high and these compete with the metal ions for active sites but as the
pH increases,the amount of H+ decreases and this leads to an increase in the number of sites available for
the metal ion to adsorb on which increases the adsorption.
Conclusion: This work studied the possibility of using pinecone as an inexpensive sorbent
material for the removal of Cu2+ as well as the effect of different experimental parameters through tests
of sorption equilibrium in batch conditions. Information about its maximum adsorption capacities were
analysed using the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms. The results demonstrate that pinecone can be
used as a novel and an effective adsorbent for the removal of Cu2+ from aqueous solutions
The Bibliography is well presented with good citations of the works related to the research.
The research is considered a good research. It is acceptable for publication.