Adsorption of Phenol on Commercial Activated Carbons: Modelling and Interpretation

Abstract

Adsorption by activated carbons (AC) is an effective option for phenolic wastewater treatment. Three commercial AC, including coal-derived granular activated carbons (GAC950), coal-derived powdered activated carbons (PAC800), and coconut shell-derived powdered activated carbons (PAC1000), were utilized as adsorbent to study its viability and efficiency for phenol removal from wastewater. Pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, and the Weber–Morris kinetic models were used to find out the kinetic parameters and mechanism of adsorption process. Further, to describe the equilibrium isotherms, the experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. According to the experimental results, AC presented a micro/mesoporous structure, and the removal of phenol by AC was affected by initial phenol concentration, contact time, pH, temperature, and humic acid (HA) concentration. The pseudo-second order kinetic and Langmuir models were found to fit the experimental data very well, and the maximum adsorption capacity was 169.91, 176.58, and 212.96 mg/g for GAC950, PAC800, and PAC1000, respectively, which was attributed to differences in their precursors and physical appearance. Finally, it was hard for phenol to be desorbed in a natural environment, which confirmed that commercial AC are effective adsorbents for phenol removal from effluent wastewater.

Trimethylamine functionalized radiation-induced grafted polyamide 6 fibers for p-nitrophenol adsorption

“…Hence, adsorption probably depended on multiple processes, encompassing both the surface adsorption and intraparticle diffusion in the adsorption of PNP by TMA-(PA6- g -GMA) fibers. Comparable results were reported in previous studies on the use of commercial activated carbon for phenol adsorption and the use of activated carbon derived from desert date seed shell for malachite green adsorption 54 .…”

Comparative study between activated carbon and biochar for phenol removal from aqueous solution

“…The high solubility in water for phenolate at pH value (> 7) leads to a weak adsorption process on the biochar surface. These results were in good agreement with the reported results in the literature (Bohli et al 2013;Gilani et al 2019;Xie et al 2020). The best pH value for adsorption was 7; therefore, this value was used for all the other experiments.…”

“…These methods are based on principles such as filtration, sedimentation, precipitation and coagulation, osmosis, ion exchange, and adsorption (González García 2018; Sathya Priya and Sureshkumar 2020). The adsorption technique is an efficient method for removing phenol compounds, because it is an easy, accessible, and reusable method (Roostaei and Tezel 2004;Xie et al 2020).…”

The review of methods of post-treatment of urban wastewater with a high content of industrial effluents

“…Activated carbons can be obtained from various raw materials with a high carbon content and, preferably, with a low content of inorganic compounds [24]. The production of activated carbons mainly depends on the starting material used, which, in turn, is selected in accordance with such important factors as its availability, processing possibilities and low cost of the starting material [25]. The industrial synthesis of activated carbon in Russia is mainly produced from large-scale coal and coconut shells as new raw materials.…”