Thesis (MSc) - Cyprus International University. Institute of Graduate Studies and Research Chemistry Department

Includes bibliography (sheets 57-64)

ABSTRACT
Pesticides are chemical substances used to obtain more efficiency in agricultural
products. The chemicals used are the cause of polluted soil and water sources. Activated
carbon is an effective adsorption method used in the extraction of pesticides from water.
However the activated carbon attained by using different compounds causes it to be
expensive. For this reason, through natural compounds, low cost procedures of
producing activated carbons are being researched as an alternative. In this study,
activated carbon obtained from a natural compound Hackberry was used to test the
extraction of atrazine. After chemical activation with KOH, changes in the surfaces and
structures of Hackberry were closely examined and characterized by using SEM, BET,
FTIR, and pH point of zero charge (pHpzc) studies. Batch adsorption experiments were
conducted to investigate the effects of pH, effect of sorbent dosage, contact time
and initial concentration. The results confirmed the Freundlich’s sorption isotherm
model (R2=0.996) in a good way and in the adsorption kinetic study observed to be
appropriate to the pseudo first order model (R2=99608). The adsorption of atrazine with
the KOH-Hackberry activated carbon reveals 86 % extraction efficiency. These results
show that the organic structured KOH-Hackberry can be used to extract the pesticide
atrazine from water.
Keywords: Atrazine, Pesticides, Activated Carbon, Adsorption, Hackberry