Assessment of Modified Rice Husks for Removal of Aniline in Batch Adsorption Process: Optimization and Isotherm Study

The present work is aimed at investigating the capability of chemically modified rice husks (MRH) for the reduction of aniline ions from industrial wastewater. The experiments have been conducted to examine the influence of four operating parameters in the batch adsorption technique. The effect of initial concentrations of aniline (10–100) mg•L-1, MRH dose (0.1–1) g/100 ml, pH (3–9), and contact time (10–90) min has been studied. The selected range of operating factors was designed using the response surface method to establish a mathematical model that describes the adsorption process. The optimum parameters were 25 mg•L-1 initial concentration of aniline, 0.68 g MRH dose, 6.6 pH, and 70 min contact time. The point of zero charge was found equal to 6.8. The maximum removal efficiency of 84.97% was found under optimum conditions. The consistency of the mathematical model has been examined and the equilibrium results confirmed with the standard adsorption isotherm models, Langmuir and Freundlich, with a high correlation coefficient.