The Application of Monkey Cola Pericarp (Cola lepidota) in the Removal of Toluene from Aqueous Medium

The study focused on the investigation of the effectiveness of the pericarp of monkey kola (Cola lepidota) biomass (CLPB) in the removal of toluene from aqueous system. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and phytochemical screening methods were used for characterizing the biosorbent. The effects of contact time, pH, and concentration on biosorption process were studied.

The phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, carbohydrate, saponins and steroids. Carboxylic, alkene and alcohol groups were found to be the principal functional groups. The highest percentage removal was 99.63% at toluene initial concentration of 40 mg/L and 98.30% at pH 8. The contact time 30 minutes gave better removal efficiency of 99.89%. Among the biosorption isotherm models tested (Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin Radushkevich and Temkin, respectively), the Langmuir model equation gave a better fit of the equilibrium data with a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.99. The equilibrium data was tested with pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models and pseudo-second order model (R² = 0.99) fitted more than the pseudo-first order model (R² = 0.85). This study has revealed that Cola lepidota is a potential biosorbent for the removal of toluene from aqueous medium under the operating conditions of contact time of 30 minutes, pH of 8 and initial concentration of 40 mg/g.