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Orbital 2009, 1 (2), 138-155

Full Paper

Adsorption of rhodamine B by acid activated

carbon-kinetic, thermodynamic and equilibrium
studies

Shanmugam Arivolia*, M. Thenkuzhalib and P. Martin Deva Prasathb

a
Department of Chemistry, H H The Rajah’s Government College, Pudukkottai- 622 001,
India.
b
Department of Chemistry, T. B. M. L.College, Porayar 609 307, India.

Received: 20 November 2008; revised: 24 January 2009; accepted: 10 February 2009.

Available online: 26 April 2009

ABSTRACT: A carbonaceous adsorbent prepared from an indigenous waste by acid

treatment was tested for its efficiency in removing Rhodamine B (RDB). The parameters
studied include agitation time, initial dye concentration, carbon dose, pH and
temperature. The adsorption followed first order kinetics and the rate is mainly controlled
by intra-particle diffusion. Freundlich and Langmuir isotherm models were applied to the
equilibrium data. The adsorption capacity (Qm) obtained from the Langmuir isotherm
plots were 40.161, 35.700, 38.462 and 37.979 mg/g respectively at an initial pH of 7.0
at 30, 40, 50 and 60 0C. The temperature variation study showed that the RDB
adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous with increased randomness at the solid
solution interface. Significant effect on adsorption was observed on varying the pH of the
RDB solutions. Almost 85% removal of RDB was observed at 60 0C. The Langmuir and
Freundlich isotherms obtained, positive
H0 value, pH dependent results and desorption
of dye in mineral acid suggest that the adsorption of RDB by Banana bark carbon
involves physisorption mechanism.
Keywords: activated carbon (BC), rhodamine B (RDB), adsorption isotherm, kinetic and
thermodynamic parameters

*Corresponding author: arivu3636@yahoo.com

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Orbital 2009, 1(2), 138-155

Introduction

The discharge of highly coloured effluents into natural water bodies is not only
aesthetically displeasing, but it also impedes light penetration, thus upsetting biological
processes within a stream. In addition, many dyes are toxic to some organisms causing
direct destruction of aquatic communities. Some dyes can cause allergic dermatitis, skin
irritation, cancer and mutation in man. Wastewaters from dyeing industries released into
nearby land or rivers without any treatment because the conventional treatment methods
are not cost effective in the Indian context. Adsorption is one of the most effective
methods and activated carbon is the preferred adsorbent widely employed to treat
wastewater containing different classes of dyes, recognizing the economic drawback of
commercial activated carbon [1-3].

Many investigators have studied the feasibility of using inexpensive alternative

materials like pearl millet husk, date pits, saw dust, buffing dust of leather industry, coir
pith, crude oil residue, tropical grass, olive stone, almond shells, pine bark, wool waste,
coconut shell etc., as carbonaceous precursors for the removal of dyes from water and
wastewater [1-3].

The present study undertaken to evaluate the efficiency of a carbon adsorbent

prepared from acid activated Banana bark carbon for the removal of dye in aqueous
solution. In order to design adsorption treatment systems, knowledge of kinetic and
mass transfer processes is essential. In this paper, the applicability of kinetic and mass-
transfer models for the adsorption of Rhodamine B onto acid activated carbon was
reported.

Material and Methods

Adsorbent Materials

The dried Banana bark was carbonized with concentrated sulphuric acid in the
weight ratio of 1:1 (w/v). Heating for twelve hours in a furnace at 600 °C has completed
the carbonization and activation. The resulting carbon was washed with distilled water
until a constant pH of the slurry was reached. Then the carbon was dried for four hours
at 100 °C in a hot air oven. The dried material was ground well to a fine powder and
sieved to 0.05 mm by using a standard mesh.

Adsorption dynamic experiments

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Batch equilibration method

The adsorption experiments were carried out in a batch process at 30, 40, 50 and
60˚ C temperatures. The known weight of adsorbent material was added to 50 mL of the
dye solutions with an initial concentration of 10 mg/L to 60 mg/L. The contents were
shaken thoroughly using a mechanical shaker (Remi Model) rotating with a speed of 120
rpm. The solution was then filtered at preset time intervals and the residual dye
concentration was measured by double beam UV-Visible spectrophotometer using 548
nm filters.

Effect of variable parameters

Dosage of adsorbents

The various doses of the adsorbent were mixed with the dye solutions and the
mixture was agitated in a mechanical shaker. The adsorption capacities for different
doses were determined at definite time intervals by keeping all other factors constant.

Initial concentration of dye

In order to determine the rate of adsorption, experiments were conducted with

different initial concentrations of dyes ranging from 10 to 60 mg/L. All other factors were
kept constant.

Contact time

The effect of contact time on the removal of dye by the adsorbent in a single cycle
was determined by keeping particle size, initial concentration, dosage, pH and
concentration of other ions as constant.

pH

Adsorption experiments were carried out at pH 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. The

acidic and alkaline pH of the media was maintained by adding the required amounts of
0.1 mol/L hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide solutions. The parameters like particle
size of the adsorbents, dye concentration, dosage of the adsorbent and concentration of
other ions are kept constant while carrying out the experiments. The pH of the samples
was determined using a portable pH meter (Systronics Model). The pH meter was
calibrated with 4.0 and 9.2 buffers.

Chloride

The experiments were done in the presence of varying chloride environments

using sodium chloride solutions. While doing the experiments, the absence of other
anions was ensured.

Temperature

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o
The adsorption experiments were performed at 30, 40, 50 and 60 C in a
thermostat attached water bath shaker (Remi Model). The constancy of the temperature
was maintained with an accuracy of ± 0.5 oC.

Zero point charge

The zero point charge of the carbon (pHzpc) was measured using the pH drift
method [4]. The pH of the solution was adjusted by using 0.01 mol/L sodium hydroxide
or hydrochloric acid. Nitrogen was bubbled through the solution at 25 0C to remove the
dissolved carbon dioxide. 50 mg of the activated carbon was added to 50 mL of the
solution. After stabilization, the final pH was recorded. The graph of final pH versus initial
pH was used to determine the zero point charge of the activated carbon.

Titration studies

According to Boehm [4] only strong acidic carboxylic acid groups are neutralized
by sodium bicarbonate, where as those neutralized by sodium carbonate are thought to
be lactones, lactol and carboxyl group. The weakly acidic phenolic groups only react with
strong alkali, sodium hydroxide. Therefore, by selective neutralization using bases of
different strength, the surface acidic functional group in carbon can be characterized both
quantitatively and qualitatively. Neutralization with hydrochloric acid characterizes the
amount of surface basic groups that are, for example, pyrones and chromenes. The basic
properties have described to surface basic groups and the pi electron system of carbon
basal planes. The results indicate that the activated carbon used may possess acidic
oxygen functional group on their surface and this is supported well by their respective
zeropoint charge values. The results obtained from the above characterization studies are
given in the Table.1.

Desorption studies

Desorption study was used to elucidate the nature of adsorption and recycling of
the spent adsorbent. The effect of various reagents used for desorption were studied.

Results and Discussion

Characterization of the adsorbent

Activated carbons are widely used as an adsorbent due to the high adsorption
capacity, high surface area, micro porous structure and high degree of surface
respectively. The wide usefulness of carbon is a result of their high chemical and
mechanical stability. The chemical nature and pore structure usually determines the
sorption activity. The physico chemical properties of the adsorbent were measured by

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various standard procedures including Drift method and Boehm titration studies are listed
in the Table 1.

Effect of contact time and initial dye concentration

The experimental results of adsorptions of at various concentrations (10, 20, 30,

40, 50 and 60 mg/L) with contact time are shown in representative Figure 1. The
equilibrium data were collected in Table 2 reveals that, percent adsorption decreased
with increase in initial dye concentration, but the actual amount of dye adsorbed per unit
mass of carbon increased with increase in dye concentration. It means that the
adsorption is highly dependent on initial concentration of dye. It is because of that at
lower concentration, the ratio of the initial number of dye molecules to the available
surface area is low subsequently the fractional adsorption becomes independent of initial
concentration. However, at high concentration the available sites of adsorption becomes
fewer and hence the percentage removal of dye is dependent upon initial concentration
[5, 6]. The adsorption attains equilibrium at 40 minutes for all concentrations. Figure 1
reveals that the curve is single, smooth and continuous, leading to saturation, suggesting
the possible monolayer coverage of the dyes on the carbon surface.

Table 1. Characteristics of the adsorbent

Properties Banana bark carbon

Particle size (mm) 0.05

Density (g/cc) 0.3986

Moisture content (%) 1.85

Loss on ignition (%) 83.5

Acid soluble matter (%) 4.00

Water soluble matter (%) 0.75

pH of aqueous solution 6.85

pHzpc 6.5

Surface groups (m equiv/g)

i) Carboxylic acid 0.352

ii) Lactone, lactol 0.056

iii) Phenolic 0.068

iv) Basic (pyrones and chromenes) 0.047

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Figure 1. Effect of contact time on the removal of RDB. [RDB] = 30 mg/L; pH = 7;

adsorbent dose = 50 mg/50 mL

Effect of adsorbent dosage

The adsorption of the dyes onto

on the adsorbent was studied by varying the
adsorbent dose (25-250
250 mg/50mL)
mg/50m for 30 mg/L of dye concentration.
entration. The percentage
percent of
adsorption increased with increase in the dosage of the adsorbent (Figure 2). This was
attributed to increased surface area and availability of more adsorption sites [5,
[ 6].
Hence the remaining parts of the experiments were carried out with the adsorbent dose
of 50 mg/50 mL.

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Figure 2. Effect os adsorbent dose on the removal of RDB. [RDB] = 30 mg/L; Contact
time = 60 min; pH = 7.

Adsorption isotherm

The experimental data are analyzed by the linear form of the Langmuir and
Freundlich isotherms [7, 8]. The Langmuir isotherm was represented by the following
equation

C e/Q e = 1/Qmb + Ce /Qm

Where Ce is the equilibrium concentration (mg/L), Qe is the amount adsorbed at

equilibrium (mg/g) and Qm and b is Langmuir constants related to adsorption efficiency
and energy of adsorption, respectively. The linear plots of Ce/Qe versus Ce suggest the
applicability of the Langmuir isotherms (Figure 3). The values of Qm and b were
determined from slope and intercepts of the plots and are presented in Table 3. The
results of adsorption efficiency Qm and adsorption energy b of the adsorbent conclude
that the maximum adsorption corresponds to a saturated monolayer of adsorbate
molecules on adsorbent surface with constant energy and no transmission of adsorbate in
the plane of the adsorbent surface. The observed b values shows that the adsorbent

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prefers to bind acidic ions and that speciation predominates on sorbent characteristics,
when ion exchange is the predominant mechanism takes place on the adsorption of RDB
and it confirms the endothermic nature of the process involved in the system [8-10]. To
confirm the favourability of the adsorption process, the separation factor (RL) was
calculated and presented in Table 4. The values were found between 0 and 1 confirms
the ongoing adsorption process is much more favorable [1, 10, 11].

Figure 3. Langmuir adsorption isotherm for the removal of RDB

The Freundlich equation was employed for the adsorption of RDB dye onto the
adsorbent. The Freundlich isotherm was represented by

log Qe = log Kf + 1/n log Ce

Where Qe is the amount of Rhodamine B dye adsorbed (mg/g), Ce is the equilibrium

concentration of dye in solution (mg/L) and Kf and n are constants incorporating the

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factors affecting the adsorption capacity and intensity of adsorption, respectively. Linear
plots of log Qe versus log Ce shows that the adsorption of Rhodamine B dye obeys the
Freundlich adsorption isotherm (Figure 4). The values of Kf and n given in the Table 5
show that the increase in negative charges on the adsorbent surface that makes
electrostatic forces like van der Waals between the adsorbent surface and dye ion. The
molecular weight, size and radii either limit or increase the possibility of the adsorption of
the dye onto adsorbent. However, the values clearly show the dominance in adsorption
capacity. The intensity of adsorption is an indicative of the bond energies between dye
and adsorbent and the possibility of slight chemisorptions rather than physisorption [10-
12]. However, the multilayer adsorption of RDB through the percolation process may be
possible. The values of n are greater than one indicating the adsorption is much more
favorable [12-14].

Figure 4. Freundlich isotherm for the adsorption of RDB

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Table 2. Equilibrium parameters for the adsorption of RDB Dye onto activated Carbon
[D]0 Ce (mg/L) Qe (mg/g) Dye removed (%)

Temperature (C)

o o o o o o o o o o
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60 30 40 50 o 60 o

10 1.7534 1.5588 1.3427 1.2124 8.2466 8.4412 8.6573 8.7876 82.6 84.4 86.5 87.8

20 3.5897 3.3799 3.1659 2.9025 16.4103 16.6201 16.8341 17.0975 82.0 83.1 84.1 85.4

30 7.9112 7.7098 7.5014 7.2941 22.0888 22.2922 22.4986 22.7039 73.6 74.3 74.9 75.6

40 14.5328 14.2257 14.0132 13.8012 25.4672 25.7746 25.9868 26.1988 63.6 64.4 64.9 65.4

50 20.5126 20.3099 20.2042 20.0017 29.4874 29.6921 29.5800 9.9983 258.9 59.3 59.5 59.9

60 26.4254 26.2194 26.0141 25.8029 33.5746 33.7806 33.9858 34.1971 55.9 56.3 56.6 56.9

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Table 3. Langmuir isotherm results
Dye Temp Statistical parameters/constants

RDB (0C) r2 Qm b

30 0.9919 40.161 0.1531

40 0.9920 38.462 0.1995

50 0.9646 35.700 0.2164

60 0.9234 37.979 0.2224

Table 4. Dimensionless Separation factor (RL)

Temperature (0C)
[D]0 30 40 50 60
(mg/L)
10 0.395 0.333 0.316 0.310
20 0.246 0.200 0.185 0.183
30 0.178 0.143 0.133 0.130
40 0.140 0.111 0.104 0.101
50 0.115 0.091 0.085 0.082
60 0.098 0.077 0.071 0.069

Table 5. Freundlich isotherm results

Dye Temp Statistical parameters/constants

RDB (0C) r2 Kf n

30 0.9693 1.5977 2.1335

40 0.9725 1.5645 2.2338

50 0.9758 1.5233 2.3758

60 0.9862 1.4988 2.4709

Effect of temperature

The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent increased with increase in the

temperature of the system from 30°-60°C. Thermodynamic parameters such as change
in free energy were determined using the following equations (∆G°) (kJ/mol), enthalpy
(∆H°)(kJ/mol) and entropy (∆S°)(J/K/mol) were determined using the following
equations

K0 = Csolid/Cliquid

∆G° = -RT lnKO

∆G° = ∆H°-T∆S°

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lnKo=∆G°/(RT)=∆S°/ (R) - ∆H°/(RT)

logK0 = ∆S°/ (2.303R) - ∆H°/(2.303RT)

Where Ko is the equilibrium constant, Csolid is the solid phase concentration at equilibrium
(mg/ L), Cliquid is the liquid phase concentration at equilibrium (mg/L), T is the
temperature in Kelvin and R is the gas constant. The ∆H° and ∆S° values obtained from
the slope and intercept of Van’t Hoff plots have presented in Table 6. The values ∆H° is
with in the range of 1 to 93 KJ/mol indicates the physisorption. The result points out
physisorption are much more favorable for the adsorption of RDB and the endothermic
nature of adsorption [12-14]. Because in the case of physical adsorption, while
increasing the temperature of the system, the extent of dye adsorption increases, this
rules out the possibility of chemisorption [1, 12, 14, 15]. The low ∆H° value depicts dye
is physisorbed onto the adsorbent.

The negative values of ∆G° (Table 6) shows the adsorption is highly favorable and
spontaneous. The positive values of ∆S° (Table 6) shows the increased disorder and
randomness at the solid solution interface of RDB with the adsorbent, while the
adsorption there are some structural changes in the dye and the adsorbent occur. The
adsorbed water molecules, which were displaced by the adsorbate species, gain more
translational entropy than is lost by the adsorbate molecules, thus allowing the
prevalence of randomness in the system. The enhancement of adsorption capacity of the
adsorbent at higher temperatures was attributed to the enlargement of pore size and
activation of the adsorbent surface [1, 13-15].

Kinetics of adsorption

In the present study, the kinetics of the dye removal was carried out to
understand the behaviour of the low cost carbon adsorbent. The adsorption of dye from
an aqueous solution follows reversible first order kinetics, when a single species are
considered on a heterogeneous surface. The heterogeneous equilibrium between the dye
solutions and the activated carbon are expressed as

k1

A B

k2

Where k1 is the forward rate constant and k2 is the backward rate constant. A
represents dye remaining in the aqueous solution and B represent dye adsorbed on the
surface of activated carbon. The equilibrium constant (K0) is the ratio of the
concentration of dye in adsorbent and in aqueous solution (K0=k1/k2).

In order to study the kinetics of the adsorption process under consideration the

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following kinetic equation was proposed by Natarajan and Khalaf as cited in literature has
been employed [1,13,14].
log C0/Ct=(Kad/2.303)t

Where C0 and Ct are the concentrations of the dye in (in mg/L) at the time zero and time
t. The rate constants (Kad) for the adsorption processes were calculated from the slope
of the linear plots of log C0/Ct versus t for different concentrations and temperatures. The
rate constants are determined by the following equation.
Kad=k1+k2=k1+(k1/K0)=k1[1+1/K0]

The overall rate constant kad for the adsorption of dye at different temperatures
are calculated from the slopes of the linear Natarajan-Khalaf plots. The rate constant
values are collected in Table 7 shows that the rate constant (kad) increases with increase
in temperature suggesting that the adsorption process in endothermic in nature. The
over all rate of adsorption is separated into the rate of forward and reverse reactions
using the above equation. The rate constants for the forward and reverse processes are
also collected in Table 7 indicate that, at all initial concentrations and temperatures, the
forward rate constant is much higher than the reverse rate constant suggesting that the
rate of adsorption is clearly dominant [13-15].

Intraparticle diffusion

The most commonly used technique for identifying the mechanism involved in the
sorption process is by fitting the experimental data in an intraparticle diffusion plot.
Previous studies by various researchers [15-17] showed that the plot of Qt versus t0.5
represents multi linearity, which characterizes the two or more steps involved in the
sorption process. According to Weber [16], an intraparticle diffusion coefficient Kp is
defined by the equation:
Kp=Qt/t0.5+C

Thus the Kp(mg/g min0.5) value can be obtained from the slope of the plot of
Qt(mg/g) versus t0.5 for Rhodamine B. From Figure 5, it was noted that the sorption
process tends to be followed by two phases. The two phases in the intraparticle diffusion
plot suggest that the sorption process proceeds by surface sorption and intraparticle
diffusion [15-17]. The initial curved portion of the plot indicates a boundary layer effect
while the second linear portion is due to intraparticle or pore diffusion. The slope of the
second linear portion of the plot has been defined as the intraparticle diffusion parameter
Kp(mg/g min0.5). On the other hand, the intercept of the plot reflects the boundary layer
effect. The larger the intercept, the greater is the contribution of surface sorption in the
rate limiting step. The calculated intraparticle diffusion coefficient Kp value was given by
0.307, 0.310, 0.318, 0.322 and 0.328 mg/g min0.5 for initial dye concentration of 10, 20,
30, 40, 50 and 60 mg/L at 300C.

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Table 6. Equilibrium constant and thermodynamic parameters for the adsorption of dyes onto carbon
[D]0 K0 ∆Go

Temperature (oC)
30 40 50 60 30 40 50 60 ∆ Ho ∆So

10 4.7032 5.4151 6.4476 7.2480 -3.90 -4.39 -5.00 -5.48 12.23 53.19
20 4.5714 4.9170 5.3173 5.8906 -3.83 -4.14 -4.48 -4.91 6.93 35.43
30 2.7920 2.8910 2.9992 3.1129 -2.58 -2.76 -2.95 -3.14 3.00 18.44
40 1.7523 1.8118 1.8544 1.8982 -1.41 -1.54 -1.66 -1.77 2.19 11.91
50 1.4375 1.4620 1.4742 1.4997 -0.94 -0.98 -1.04 -1.12 1.12 6.72
60 1.2705 1.2880 1.3064 1.3253 -0.60 -0.66 -0.72 -0.80 1.16 5.83

Table 7. Rate constants for the adsorption of Rhodamine B dye (103 kad, min -1
) and the constants for forward (103 k1, min–1) and reverse
(103 k2, min-1) process
Temperature (0C)

[D]0 kad 30 40 50 60
o o o o
30 40 50 60 k1 k2 k1 k2 k1 k2 k1 k2

10 13.4 14.83 17.08 18.74 11.05 2.35 12.52 12.31 14.78 2.30 16.47 0.93
20 6.47 7.13 7.59 8.88 5.31 1.16 5.92 1.21 6.39 1.20 7.59 1.29
30 3.56 3.17 3.27 3.36 2.62 0.94 2.36 0.82 2.45 0.82 2.54 0.82
40 1.70 1.72 1.77 1.79 1.09 0.61 1.11 0.62 1.15 0.62 1.17 0.62
50 1.24 1.24 1.24 1.24 0.73 0.51 0.74 0.50 0.74 0.50 0.75 0.49
60 0.94 0.92 0.96 0.97 0.52 0.42 0.52 0.40 0.55 0.42 0.56 0.41

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Figure 5. Intraparticle diffusion effect for the removal of RDB.

Effect of pH

The effect of pH on the adsorption of RDB onto the adsorbent was studied in wide
range of pH. The results are shown in Figure 6 shows that the uptake of RDB ions at pH 8
was the minimum and maximum at pH 6.5. However, when the pH of the solution was
increased (beyond pH 8.5), the uptake of RDB ions was increased. It appears that a
change in pH of the solution results in the formation of different ionic species and
different surface charge. At pH values lower than 7.5, the RDB ions can enter into the
pore structure. At a pH value higher than 7.5, the zwitterions form of RDB in water may
increase the aggregation of RDB to form a bigger molecular form (dimer) and become
unable to enter into the pore structure of the adsorbent surface. The greater aggregation
of the zwitterionic form is due to the attractive electrostatic interaction between the
carboxyl and xanthane groups of the monomer.

At a pH value higher than 8.5, the existence of OH- creates a competition between
–N+ and COO- and it will decrease the aggregation of RDB, which causes an increase in
the adsorption of RDB ions on the adsorbent surface. The effect of the charge on the
surface and the electrostatic force of attraction/repulsion between the adsorbent surface
and the RDB ions cannot explain the result [1, 17].

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Figure 6. Effect of initial pH on the removal of RDB. [RDB] = 30 mg/L; Adsorbent dose
= 50 mg/50 mL; pH = 7

Effect of the ionic strength on the adsorption of RDB

The effect of sodium chloride on the adsorption of RDB by the adsorbent is shown
in Figure 7 shows that low concentrated solution of NaCl had little influence on the
adsorption capacity. At higher ionic strength the adsorption RDB will be increased due to
the partial neutralization of the positive charge on the adsorbent surface and a
consequent compression of the electrical double layer by the Cl- anion. The chloride ion
can also enhances adsorption of RDB ion onto the adsorbent by pairing of their charges
and hence reducing the repulsion between the RDB ion and adsorbent surface. This
initiates the adsorbent to adsorb more positive RDB ions on its surface [1, 15, 17, 18].

Desorption studies

Desorption studies help to elucidate the nature of adsorption and recycling of the
spent adsorbent and the dye. If the adsorbed dyes can be desorbed using neutral pH
water, then the attachment of the dye by the adsorbent is through the weak bonds. If
sulphuric acid or alkaline water desorp the dye then the adsorption is by ion exchange.
If organic acids, like acetic acid can desorb the dye, then the dye was held by the

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adsorbent through chemisorption. The effect of various reagents used for desorption
studies indicate that hydrochloric acid is a better reagent for desorption, because more
than 85% of the adsorbed dye were removed. The desorption of dye by mineral acids
indicate that the dyes were adsorbed onto the adsorbent through by physisorption
mechanisms [1, 15, 17, 18].

Figure 7. Effect of chloride ion on the removal of RDB. [RDB] = 30 mg/L; Adsorbent
dose = 50 mg/50 mL; pH = 7

Conclusion

The experimental data are correlated reasonably well by the Langmuir and
Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The low as well high pH value shows the optimum
amount of adsorption of RDB by the adsorbent. The amount of RDB adsorbed by the
adsorbent was increased with increasing ionic strength and temperature. The
dimensionless separation factor (RL) shows that the chosen activated carbon can be used
for the removal of RDB from aqueous solution. The values of ∆H°, ∆S° and ∆G° results

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shows that the activated carbon employed has a considerable potential as an adsorbent
for the removal of RDB.

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge sincere thanks to Mrs. Mala Arivoli, The Principal,
M.R.Government Arts College, Mannargudi and The Director of Collegiate Education,
Chennai for carrying out this research work successfully.

References and Notes

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