KARAKTERISASI DAN PENENTUAN WAKTU KONTAK OPTIMUM ARANG AKTIF BUAH JABON PUTIH (Anthocephalus cadamba) DALAM ADSORPSI ION MERKURI (II)

Abstract

White Jabon fruit (Anthocaphalus cadamba) can be used as an adsorbent in the form of activated charcoal because it has chemical content in the form of cellulose and protein. This research aims to determined the adsorption ability of white jabon fruit towards mercury (II) ions. The adsorbent was made by carbonization at 300 ºC for 30 minutes and activated using NaOH, then charcoal was characterized according to SNI 06-3730-1995, FTIR and ICP-MS. White Jabon fruit charcoal was applied to absorb mercury (II) ions and analyzed the effect of variation in contact time (10; 20; 30; 40; 50 and 60 minutes) on adsorption capacity of charcoal. The characterization result of the activated charcoal of white jabon fruit in this research indicate that was contained water 1,298%, the ash content 2,595%, the iodine adsorption power was 829.494 mg g-1 and the adsorption power of methylene blue was 26,741 mg g-1. The best adsorption ability of mercury (II) ions is activated charcoal from white Jabon fruit which is activated by NaOH and the optimum contact time is 40 minutes with an absorption efficiency of 99.936%.