No abstract

BACKGROUND: The removal of heavy metals using adsorption techniques with low cost biosorbents is being extensively investigated. The improved adsorption is essentially due to the pores present in the adsorbent. One way of improving the porosity of the material is by irradiation of the precursor using microwaves. In the present study, the adsorption characteristics of nickel onto microwave-irradiated rice husks were studied and the process variables were optimized through response surface methodology (RSM).