Page 368 - Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Recycling and Reuse

340 Industrial Wastewater Treatment, Recycling, and Reuse

(a) (b)

Figure 8.8 SEM image of untreated adsorbent BP at different magnifications, (a) at
100 and (b) at 1 K .

(a) (b)

Figure 8.9 SEM image of BMO at different magnifications, (a) 9 K and (b) 33.36 K .

further affirmed by the total pore volume determined by N 2 adsorption-
desorption isotherm (Table 8.1).

8.3.3 BET Surface Area Analysis

Surface area is one of the most important parameters for adsorbent develop-
ment. As a general rule, the higher the surface area, the greater the adsorption
capacity of the adsorbent (Cooney, 1999), barring specific adsorption. The
internal surface area study is confined to the pore structure of the adsorbent
material.Thepore structureisalsoamajorfactoraffectingtheadsorptionpro-
cess. If the pore diameter is such that the adsorbate molecules are larger, then