Modified Raphia hookerie waste (CMRH) was prepared and utilized for the uptake of rhodamine B (RhB). The adsorbent was characterized using Fourier transform infra red (FTIR), Brunauer– Emmett–Teller (BET) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). FTIR analysis revealed functional groups such as C-N, C-OH and S-H which are good adsorption site for cationic toxicants. The surface area of the modified Raphia hookerie was observed to be low (6.25 m2/g), however modification was observed to increase the surface area of adsorbent when compared with that of raw Raphia hookerie (0.04 m2/g). The sorption data fitted better into the Freundlich adsorption isotherm than the Langmuir, the maximum sorption capacity qo as obtained from the Langmuir adsorption parameters was 357.14 mg/g. Sorption energy obtained for Dubinin–Radushkevich (D-R) isotherm for the adsorption process was found to be less than 8 KJ mol-1 which suggest that uptake of RhB onto CMRH was physical in nature.
Key words: Raphia hookerie, Modification, Adsorption, Rhodamine B, BET, SEM, FTIR.