PENGARUH WAKTU KONTAK ARANG AKTIF KAYU BIDARA (Ziziphus mauritiana) TERHADAP ADSORPSI MERKURI

Abstract

Mercury is extremely toxic to organisms and the environment. This heavy metal can also pollute water bodies, soil, and the air due to human activities that used mercury such as illegal mining. This pollution could be addressed by the use of an active material that can adsorb mercury and eventually maintain a save amount of mercury in the environment. One of the active materials that can be used is activated charcoal from Bidara wood (Ziziphus mauritiana). This study aimed to analyze the effect of the contact time of Bidara activated charcoal to the capacity of the charcoal to adsorb mercury. This study used a completely randomized design with a single factor which was the contact time of the charcoal and mercury solution consisted of 6, 18, 24 hours. The result showed that the contact time did not significantly affect the charcoal’s capacity to adsorb mercury. The charcoal adsorbed 99.7%, 99.8%, and 99.3% of mercury in 6, 18, and 24 hours, respectively. The study conclude that the Bidara activated charcoal can be used to adsorb mercury, meanwhile, the contact time variation was not affecting the adsorption capacity of the activated charcoal.