In this study activated carbon prepared from Adathoda vasica stem was used as adsorbent to remove Cu2+ from an industrial waste water. For this purpose, high grade CuSO4.5H2O was used as heavy metal sample. Laboratory experimental investigation was carried out to identify the effect of pH (1.50 – 5.5), agitation time (30-240 min) varying temperature (30-50°C) and varying biomass quantities (2,4,6,8,10 g/L) and other co-existing ions were also examined. The kinetics of interactions were tested with pseudo first order –Lagergren equation and first order reversible –Bhattacharya Venkobachar equation. The Langmuir & Freundlich adsorption isotherm models fitted the experimental data best with regression coefficient r2 > 0.95 for the Cu(II) ions. The adsorption was endothermic and the computation of the parameters ΔG°, ΔH° & ΔS° indicated that the interactions were thermodynamically favorable. The results showed that Adathoda vasica stem carbon (AVSC) was an effective & economical biosorbent material for the removal and recovery of heavy metal ions from waste water.
