Optimization studies of chromium biosorption by carbon nanoparticles of Cocos nucifera

Saravana Raj, Adimoolam; Karuppaiah Subramanian, Aakaash; Perumal, Vinosh Muthukumar; Balasubramanian, Bharathiraja; Jayabalan, Veeramalini; Ganesan, Saravana Kumar; Akilan, Meenakshi Sundar

doi:10.22104/aet.2026.6958.1948

Optimization studies of chromium biosorption by carbon nanoparticles of Cocos nucifera

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Adimoolam Saravana Raj ¹

Aakaash Karuppaiah Subramanian ¹

Vinosh Muthukumar Perumal ²

Bharathiraja Balasubramanian ³

Veeramalini Jayabalan ¹

Saravana Kumar Ganesan ⁴

Meenakshi Sundar Akilan ⁵

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, Vel Tech High Tech Dr.Rangarajan Dr.Sakunthala Engineering College, Avadi, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

² Vel Tech High Tech Dr.Rangarajan Dr.Sakunthala Engineering College

³ Department of Biotechnology, Easwari Engineering College, Ramapuram, Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India

⁴ Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore-641021, India. Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Aerial Systems (CAAAS), Karpagam

⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, V.S.B. Engineering College, Karur, Tamil Nadu, India

10.22104/aet.2026.6958.1948

Abstract

Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) were produced from the leaves of Cocos nucifera and chemically activated using phosphoric acid. The activated CNPs were characterised using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) (surface area: 122.53 m2/g; mean pore diameter: 16.29 nm) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) (particle size: 20-30 nm). Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to optimize chromium (VI) removal from leather industry effluent. Response surface methodology with Central Composite Design (CCD) was employed to investigate the effects of four parameters, Cr concentration (10-100 ppm), CNP dosage (1-10 g/L), contact time (10-60 min) and pH (1-7). Under optimized conditions (Cr concentration 100 ppm, CNP dosage 10g/L, contact time 30 minutes and pH 2), the maximum removal efficiency achieved was 83% with an adsorption capacity of 83 mg/g. ANOVA analysis confirmed the quadratic model adequacy (F-value = 74.65, p < 0.0001; R² = 0.9896). CNP concentration emerged as the most influential parameter. Isotherm modeling analysis demonstrated that the chromium biosorption process follows Langmuir isotherm behaviour with R² value, 0.9951, Chi-squared error (χ²) value, 0.2452 and root mean square error (RMSE), 1.0002 mg/g indicating monolayer adsorption. The Cocos nucifera carbon nanoparticles demonstrated high efficiency for chromium removal from tannery effluents under acidic conditions.

Keywords

Carbon nanoparticles

Cocos nucifera

Leather effluent treatment

Response Surface optimization

Langmuir isotherm

Subjects