Pine cone, a popular agricultural waste, was investigated as a novel ammonium biosorbent in its raw and sodium hydroxide modified form. Surface modification of pine cone powder were carried out using sodium hydroxide solution of concentarions (0,05 and 0,1mg/L)
was described by a pseudo-second-order model predicting a chemisorption process. In addition, the equilibrium data were well characterized by the Langmuir isotherm model that confirmed the mono-layer coverage. The surface properties of raw pine cone powder and its sodium hydroxide modified form were analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The chemical composition of pine cone powder before and after biosorption of ammonium is discussed in relation to the XRD and SEM-EDS results. The results showed that the surface of pine cone powder samples is modified by sodium hydroxide solution and the chemical composition of pine cone powder samples is changed after biosorption of ammonium. This from presents an interesting option for tertiary wastewater treatment (as a possible non-conventional biosorbent for the removal of ammonium