Effect of out-gassing of ZnCl2-activated cattle manure compost on the adsorptive removal of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions

A batch adsorption system was employed to develop the adsorption properties for Cu (II) and Pb (II) by using cattle manure compost (CMC) derived carbons activated by ZnCl2. Langmuir and Freundlich models were applied to describe the adsorption data. The uptake performance of heavy metal ions onto the cattle manure compost activated carbon was evaluated and compared with the commercially available activated carbon, F400. The Langmuir plots were well fitted to linear approximation, and the derived carbons showed favorable adsorption more towards copper (II) than lead (II). Adsorption capacity of copper by out-gassed CMC activated carbons was better than that of out-gassed F400, though it was comparable prior to the de-ashing and out-gassing treatments. Results proposed that nitrogen content of cattle manure compost was responsible for the preferable removal of copper over lead.