Removal of Phenolic Compounds from Water Using Sewage Sludge-Based Activated Carbon Adsorption: A Review

Abstract

Due to their industrial relevance, phenolic compounds (PC) are amongst the most common organic pollutants found in many industrial wastewater effluents. The potential detrimental health and environmental impacts of PC necessitate their removal from wastewater to meet regulatory discharge standards to ensure meeting sustainable development goals. In recent decades, one of the promising, cost-effective and environmentally benign techniques for removal of PC from water streams has been adsorption onto sewage sludge (SS)-based activated carbon (SBAC). This is attributed to the excellent adsorptive characteristics of SBAC and also because the approach serves as a strategy for sustainable management of huge quantities of different types of SS that are in continual production globally. This paper reviews conversion of SS into activated carbons and their utilization for the removal of PC from water streams. Wide ranges of topics which include SBAC production processes, physicochemical characteristics of SBAC, factors affecting PC adsorption onto SBAC and their uptake mechanisms as well as the regeneration potential of spent SBAC are covered. Although chemical activation techniques produce better SBAC, yet more research work is needed to harness advances in material science to improve the functional groups and textural properties of SBAC as well as the low performance of physical activation methods. Studies focusing on PC adsorptive performance on SBAC using continuous mode (that are more relevant for industrial applications) in both single and multi-pollutant aqueous systems to cover wide range of PC are needed. Also, the potentials of different techniques for regeneration of spent SBAC used for adsorption of PC need to be assessed in relation to overall economic evaluation within realm of environmental sustainability using life cycle assessment.

Sewage Sludge ZnCl2-Activated Carbon Intercalated MgFe–LDH Nanocomposites: Insight of the Sorption Mechanism of Improved Removal of Phenol from Water

“…Markedly, the spectra of composites (AC-MgFe-2 and AC-MgFe-1) consisted of a lower content of AC (0.25 and 0.1 g), respectively, which indicated stronger characteristic band intensities compared to the higher AC content composite (AC-MgFe-3). The FTIR results demonstrated the effective formation of AC-MgFe composite, exhibiting abundant oxygen-containing functionalities (OH, NO 3 , C=N, C=O, C-O, and MMO), and thereby exhibiting good adsorbent characteristics for the uptake of pollutants from the aqueous phase [6]. The XRD patterns of AC-MgFe composites are shown in Figure 1b.…”

“…In the last decades, various adsorbents, such as carbon materials [8,9], clays [10], polymers [11], and silica [12], have been investigated for their adsorption of phenolic contaminants. However, due to its high production cost, low adsorption capability for different pollutants, limitation in industrial effluents' pH range, and low reusability, increasing interest has focused on developing new sustainable and eco-economical hybrid adsorbents that exhib a high removal and excellent reusability performance for various pollutants.Activated carbon (AC) is a widely used adsorbent for the remediation of contaminated organic wastewater due to its excellent surface characteristics (surface area and porous structure) and abundant oxygen functionalities [6,13]. For example, AC derived from rattan sawdust exhibited high phenol removal, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 149.25 mg/g [14].…”

“…Activated carbon (AC) is a widely used adsorbent for the remediation of contaminated organic wastewater due to its excellent surface characteristics (surface area and porous structure) and abundant oxygen functionalities [6,13]. For example, AC derived from rattan sawdust exhibited high phenol removal, with a maximum adsorption capacity of 149.25 mg/g [14].…”

Influence of Pesticide Properties on Adsorption Capacity and Rate on Activated Carbon from Aqueous Solution

“…Substituents on benzene ring of aromatics have a great influence on adsorption process on activated carbon. It is not directly related to their interaction with an adsorbent but mainly with changes in molecular properties of adsorbed compound [19][20][21][22][23]. The crucial factors are the nature of the substituents, number, and their mutual position on benzene ring.…”

Evaluation and Predictive Modeling of Removal Condition for Bioadsorption of Indigo Blue Dye by Spirulina platensis

“…Nevertheless, recent progress has been made in an integrated perspective of wastewater treatment that includes standard and biological technologies for pharmaceutical emerging contaminants [4][5][6][7], industrial chemicals [8,9], brewery wastewater [10], agro-industrial wastewater [11,12], heavy metals [13,14], and emerging compounds [15].…”