1. P REPARATION OF C HARCOAL (A CTIVATED C ARBON ) FROM V ARIOUS A GRICULTURAL W ASTES NEAR AND AROUND P UNE, MS, I NDIA AND E VALUATION OF I TS P OSSIBLE A PPLICATIONS IN M INIMIZING E NVIRONMENTAL H AZARDS Principal Invigilator Mr. Pranav S. Chandrachood (Assistant Professor,Dept. of Chemistry, S. P. College, Pune, India.) Project Assistants Ms. Sayali Deshpande(First year B. Sc. student) Ms. Manisha Walunj (Second year B. Sc. student)

2. E NVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS Water and air pollution amongst major environmental issues. Environmental issues need to be addressed in the immediate future in order to maintain ecological balance Growing dye industries, pharma industries cause major water pollution. In many areas, water is contaminated with toxic materials as well as heavy metals. To develop a new, economic and fast acting method to control water pollution is the need of the day.

3. R OLE OF ACTIVATED CARBON IN CONTROLLING WATER POLLUTION Water pollution is an important environmental issue which needs immediate attention from chemists. Prepared carbon from various agricultural waste can play a valuable role in controlling water pollution. Carbon can reduce harmful materials and pollutants from water thereby minimizing water pollution.

4. P REPARATION OF CARBON Huge amount of agricultural waste produced in India every year. It becomes essential to use this waste material for various important applications in environmental chemistry various types of carbons having different properties can be prepared from agricultural wastes. Prepared carbons are excellent adsorbants Can be used for water purification, minimizing air pollution and also as solid supports in many important environment friendly organic reactions

5. M ETHODS OF PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF CARBON Many methods available for preparation carbons from agricultural waste. Commonly used methods are treating the waste with sulfuric acid/nitric acid, and then heating in a furnace at around 600-700 o C. Characterization can be done using advanced techniques such as TG-DTA, FT-IR, powder XRD. Heating may be carried out in presence or absence of air which alters the adsorption properties of the carbon prepared. Adsorption capacity depends upon the mesh size and the functional groups present on the carbon.

6. A PPLICATIONS Prepared carbons act as excellent adsorbants. They found tremendous applications in water purification. the prepared carbon find excellent applications for dye removal from water. Find applications in heavy metal removal from water. can be used to purify polluted air. Can be used as an excellent solid support in carrying out environment friendly organic reactions.

7. A DVANTAGES Easy to prepare and handle Do not require tedious methods and sophisticated techniques for characterization. agricultural waste is available in large amounts and hence preparation cost is negligible. Various carbons having different functional groups on the surface can be used for various applications. Can be stored under normal conditions. Easily recyclable of the carbon with high reproducibility of the results.

8. P RESENT WORK Collection of agricultural waste from near Pune, MS, India. Crushing of the waste material to form a powder. The powder will be subjected to acid treatment and then heated. The carbon will be prepared as per the reported procedures. The prepared carbons will be characterized using the appropriate analytical methods. The prepared carbons will be used for various applications depicted above. Contd……

9. P RESENT WORK The first stage will consist of collection of the agricultural waste which will then be dried thoroughly. In the next stage, carbons will be prepared from the dried material using the reported procedures. In the third stage, the prepared carbons will be tested for their dye removal activity. Using mathematical models like Frieundlich Isotherm described for adsorption activity, the adsorption capacity of the carbons will be determined. In the fourth and last stage of the project, data compilation will be done and results /conclusions will be drawn from the available data. The results may provide economic, fast acting and environmentally benign solutions for ecologically important water pollution hazards.

10. I MPRINT This PPT was prepared in context of the project „Greening with Goethe“ Copyright © Goethe-Institut und beteiligte Schulen 2011 Alle Rechte vorbehalten www.goethe.de/indien/greening-with-goethe