Adsorptive removal of chlorophenols from aqueous solution by low cost adsorbent--Kinetics and isotherm analysis

Adsorptive removal of parachlorophenol (PCP) and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) from aqueous solutions by activated carbon prepared from coconut shell was studied and compared with activated carbon of commercial grade (CAC). Various chemical agents in different concentrations were used (KOH, NaOH, CaCO(3), H(3)PO(4) and ZnCl(2)) for the preparation of coconut shell activated carbon. The coconut shell activated carbon (CSAC) prepared using KOH as chemical agent showed high surface area and best adsorption capacity and was chosen for further studies. Batch adsorption studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of various parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and initial PCP and TCP concentration. Adsorption equilibrium reached earlier for CSAC than CAC for both PCP and TCP concentrations. Under optimized conditions the prepared activated carbon showed 99.9% and 99.8% removal efficiency for PCP and TCP, respectively, where as the commercially activated carbon had 97.7% and 95.5% removal for PCP and TCP, respectively, for a solution concentration of 50mg/L. Adsorption followed pseudo-second-order kinetics. The equilibrium adsorption data were analysed by Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson and Sips model using non-linear regression technique. Freundlich isotherms best fitted the data for adsorption equilibrium for both the compounds (PCP and TCP). Similarly, acidic pH was favorable for the adsorption of both PCP and TCP. Studies on pH effect and desorption revealed that chemisorption was involved in the adsorption process. The efficiency of the activated carbon prepared was also tested with real pulp and paper mill effluent. The removal efficiency using both the carbons were found highly satisfactory and was about 98.7% and 96.9% as phenol removal and 97.9% and 93.5% as AOX using CSAC and CAC, respectively.     

Adsorption of EDTA on activated carbon from aqueous solutions

In this study, the adsorption of EDTA on activated carbon from aqueous solutions has been investigated in a batch stirred cell. Experiments have been carried out to investigate the effects of temperature, EDTA concentration, pH, activated carbon mass and particle size on EDTA adsorption. The experimental results manifest that the EDTA adsorption rate increases with its concentration in the aqueous solutions. EDTA adsorption also increases with temperature. The EDTA removal from the solution increases as activated carbon mass increases. The Langmuir and Freundlich equilibrium isotherm models are found to provide a good fitting of the adsorption data, with R(2) = 0.9920 and 0.9982, respectively. The kinetic study shows that EDTA adsorption on the activated carbon is in good compliance with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The thermodynamic parameters (E(a), ΔG(0), ΔH(0), ΔS(0)) obtained indicate the endothermic nature of EDTA adsorption on activated carbon.     

Removal of phenol from aqueous solutions by adsorption onto activated carbon prepared from biomass material

Activated carbon derived from rattan sawdust (ACR) was evaluated for its ability to remove phenol from an aqueous solution in a batch process. Equilibrium studies were conducted in the range of 25–200 mg/L initial phenol concentrations, 3–10 solution pH and at temperature of 30 °C. The experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm models. Equilibrium data fitted well to the Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity of 149.25 mg/g. The dimensionless separation factor R_L revealed the favorable nature of the isotherm of the phenol-activated carbon system. The pseudo-second-order kinetic model best described the adsorption process. The results proved that the prepared activated carbon was an effective adsorbent for removal of phenol from aqueous solution.     

Removal of phenol from aqueous solution and resin manufacturing industry wastewater using an agricultural waste: rubber seed coat.

Activated carbon prepared from rubber seed coat (RSCC), an agricultural waste by-product, has been used for the adsorption of phenol from aqueous solution. In this work, adsorption of phenol on rubber seed coat activated carbon has been studied by using batch and column studies. The equilibrium adsorption level was determined to be a function of the solution pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time. The equilibrium adsorption capacity of rubber seed coat activated carbon for phenol removal was obtained by using linear Freundlich isotherm. The adsorption of phenol on rubber seed coat activated carbon follows first order reversible kinetics. The suitability of RSCC for treating phenol based resin manufacturing industry wastewater was also tested. A comparative study with a commercial activated carbon (CAC) showed that RSCC is 2.25 times more efficient compared to CAC based on column adsorption study for phenolic wastewater treatment.     

Preparation of activated carbon from coconut husk: optimization study on removal of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol using response surface methodology

Activated carbon was prepared from coconut husk using physicochemical activation method which consisted of potassium hydroxide (KOH) treatment and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) gasification. The effects of three preparation variables (CO(2) activation temperature, CO(2) activation time and KOH:char impregnation ratio) on the 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) uptake and activated carbon yield were investigated. Based on the central composite design, two quadratic models were developed to correlate the preparation variables to the two responses. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the most influential factor on each experimental design response was identified. The activated carbon preparation conditions were optimized by maximizing both the 2,4,6-TCP uptake and activated carbon yield. The predicted 2,4,6-TCP uptake and carbon yield from the models agreed satisfactorily with the experimental values. The optimum conditions for preparing activated carbon from coconut husk for adsorption of 2,4,6-TCP were found as follow: CO(2) activation temperature of 750 degrees C, CO(2) activation time of 2.29 h and KOH:char impregnation ratio of 2.91, which resulted in 191.73 mg/g of 2,4,6-TCP uptake and 20.16 % of activated carbon yield.     

Studies on the removal of Pb(II) from wastewater by activated carbon developed from Tamarind wood activated with sulphuric acid

The low-cost activated carbon were prepared from Tamarind wood material by chemical activation with sulphuric acid for the adsorption of Pb(II) from dilute aqueous solution. The activated carbon developed shows substantial capacity to adsorb Pb(II) from dilute aqueous solutions. The parameters studied include physical and chemical properties of adsorbent, pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and initial concentrations. The kinetic data were best fitted to the Lagergren pseudo-first-order and pseudo-second order models. The isotherm equilibrium data were well fitted by the Langmuir and Freundlich models. The maximum removal of lead(II) was obtained 97.95% (experimental) and 134.22 mg/g (from Langmuir isotherm model) at initial concentration 40 mg/l, adsorbent dose 3g/l and pH 6.5. This high uptake showed Tamarind wood activated carbon as among the best adsorbents for Pb(II).     

Development of parthenium based activated carbon and its utilization for adsorptive removal of p-cresol from aqueous solution

The activated carbon was prepared from carbonaceous agriculture waste Parthenium hysterophorous by chemical activation using concentrated H2SO4 at 130+/-5 degrees C. The prepared activated carbon was characterized and was found as an effective adsorbent material. In order to test the efficacy of parthenium based activated carbon (PAC), batch experiments were performed to carryout the adsorption studies on PAC for the removal of highly toxic pollutant p-cresol from aqueous solution. The p-cresol adsorption studies were also carried out on commercial grade activated carbon (AC) to facilitate comparison between the adsorption capabilities of PAC and AC. For PAC and AC, the predictive capabilities of two types of kinetic models and six types of adsorption equilibrium isotherm models were examined. The effect of pH of solution, adsorbent dose and initial p-cresol concentration on adsorption behaviour was investigated, as well. The adsorption on PAC and on AC was found to follow pseudo-first order kinetics with rate constant 0.0016 min(-1) and 0.0050 min(-1), respectively. The highest adsorptive capacity of PAC and AC for p-cresol solution was attained at pH 6.0. Further, as an adsorbent PAC was found to be as good as AC for removal of p-cresol upto a concentration of 500 mg/l in aqueous solution. Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, and Fritz-Schlunder models were found to be appropriate isotherm models for PAC while Toth, Radke-Prausnitz and Fritz-Schlunder were suitable models for AC to remove p-cresol from aqueous solution.     

Optimization of basic dye removal by oil palm fibre-based activated carbon using response surface methodology

Oil palm fibre was used to prepare activated carbon using physiochemical activation method which consisted of potassium hydroxide (KOH) treatment and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) gasification. The effects of three preparation variables: the activation temperature, activation time and chemical impregnation (KOH:char) ratio on methylene blue (MB) uptake from aqueous solutions and activated carbon yield were investigated. Based on the central composite design (CCD), a quadratic model and a two factor interaction (2FI) model were respectively developed to correlate the preparation variables to the MB uptake and carbon yield. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA), the significant factors on each experimental design response were identified. The optimum activated carbon prepared from oil palm fibre was obtained by using activation temperature of 862 degrees C, activation time of 1h and chemical impregnation ratio of 3.1. The optimum activated carbon showed MB uptake of 203.83mg/g and activated carbon yield of 16.50%. The equilibrium data for adsorption of MB on the optimum activated carbon were well represented by the Langmuir isotherm, giving maximum monolayer adsorption capacity as high as 400mg/g at 30 degrees C.     

活性炭负载Fe(Ⅲ)氧化物去除水中的磷酸根

利用活性炭负载铁氧化物制备了复合吸附剂,并用于水中磷酸根的去除.采用BET,SEM及XRD等手段对复合吸附剂的物理化学特性进行了表征,用静态吸附实验方法比较研究了复合吸附剂和活性炭从水溶液中吸附磷酸根的性质.结果表明:复合吸附剂具有快的吸附速度和高的吸附容量,其吸附磷酸根的性质受溶液pH值、铁含量及阴离子浓度的影响.在pH=3.0时,复合吸附剂对磷酸根的吸附容量为98.39 mg/g,而活性炭为78.90 mg/g.相比之下,Freundlich模型比Langmuir模型能更好地描述复合吸附剂和活性炭对磷酸根的吸附过程;而Lagergren二级方程却能很好地描述复合吸附剂对磷酸根的吸附动力学.水合氧化铁/活性炭复合吸附剂吸附磷酸根为吸热过程.     

Adsorptive removal of phenol from aqueous phase by using a porous acrylic ester polymer

The removal of phenol from aqueous solution was examined by using a porous acrylic ester polymer (Amberlite XAD-7) as an adsorbent. Favorable phenol adsorption was observed at acidic solution pH and further increase of solution pH results in a marked decrease of adsorption capacity, and the coexisting inorganic salt NaCl exerts positive effect on the adsorption process. Adsorption isotherms of phenol were linearly correlated and found to be well represented by either the Langmuir or Freundlich isotherm model. Thermodynamic parameters such as changes in the enthalpy (DeltaH), entropy (DeltaS) and free energy (DeltaG) indicate that phenol adsorption onto XAD-7 is an exothermic and spontaneous process in nature, and lower ambient temperature results in more favorable adsorption. Kinetic experiments at different initial solute concentrations were investigated and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model was successfully represented the kinetic data. Additionally, the column adsorption result showed that a complete removal of phenol from aqueous phase can be achieved by XAD-7 beads and the exhausted adsorbent was amenable to an entire regeneration by using ethanol as the regenerant. More interestingly, relatively more volume of hot water in place of ethanol can also achieve a similar result for repeated use of the adsorbent.     

Nitrate removal from aqueous solution by adsorption onto various materials

In this study sepiolite, sepiolite activated by HCl, slag and powdered activated carbon were used as adsorbent with a particle size was between 71 and 80 microm (200-170 mesh). NaNO3 solution (100 mg/l) was used in batch adsorption experiments for nitrate removal. First kinetic studies were carried out and it was determined that slag was not effective for nitrate removal, then contact time, pH and adsorbent dosage effects on nitrate removal by adsorption were investigated using other adsorbents except slag. The equilibrium time was found to be 30, 45, 5 min for sepiolite, powdered activated carbon and activated sepiolite, respectively. The most effective pH value for nitrate removal was 2 for powdered activated carbon. pH value did not affect nitrate removal significantly for other adsorbents. Adsorbent dosages were varied from 5 to 20 g/l solutions. An increase in adsorbent dosage increased the percent removal of nitrate. A series of isotherm studies were undertaken and the data evaluated for compliance with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. To investigate the adsorption mechanisms, three simplified kinetic models, i.e., first-, second-order and intraparticle diffusion were tested. Adsorption followed second-order rate kinetics. The correlation coefficients for second order kinetic model are greater than 0.996. Experimental data show that sepiolite activated by HCl was effective for nitrate removal.     

Carbons prepared from Spartina alterniflora and its anaerobically digested residue by H3PO4 activation: characterization and adsorption of cadmium from aqueous solutions

Two series of activated carbons were prepared from Spartina alterniflora and from its anaerobically digested residue by H(3)PO(4) activation at various process conditions, and used as adsorbents for the removal of cadmium (II) in aqueous solutions. The surface areas and pore volumes of carbons were derived from adsorption isotherms (N(2) at 77K). The surface chemistry of carbons was investigated by infrared spectroscopy. Comparison study indicated that physicochemical properties of the activated carbons were strongly dependent not only on activation conditions but also on biopolymer contents of precursors. Several isotherm models were investigated and the adsorption isotherm data were best represented by the Langmuir isotherm model, with a maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 47.85 mg/g at 25 °C. The results showed that the activated carbon produced from S. alterniflora could be employed as a promising adsorbent for removing cadmium (II) from aqueous solutions.     

Adsorption of phenol by MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB: Equilibrium,kinetic, and thermodynamic study

In this study, the phenol adsorption capacity of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide modified clays (MMT-CTAB) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide modified pulp tea (WPT-CTAB) were studied. In batch adsorption experiments performed with MMT-CTAB, the effects of parameters such contact time, phenol concentration, pH of solution and adsorbent dosage were investigated. The effect of temperature on phenol adsorption onto MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB was examined; equilibrium and thermodynamic studies were completed. The highest phenol removal was found at pH 4.0 for MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB. To analyze the kinetics of phenol adsorption onto MMT-CTAB, the pseudo first-order and pseudo second-order kinetic models were applied. The kinetic data fitted better to the pseudo second-order model than the pseudo first-order kinetic model for MMT-CTAB. The characterization of adsorbents in phenol adsorption was clarified with the FTIR technique. Thermodynamic parameters such as ΔH°, ΔS° and ΔG° were calculated for each adsorption process. The adsorption process was found to be exothermic and spontaneous for phenol adsorption by MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB. The results were analyzed with the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Harkins–Jura equations using linearized correlation coefficients at different temperatures. The Langmuir equation was found to best represent the equilibrium data for phenol adsorption onto MMT-CTAB and WPT-CTAB.     

Removal of phosphate from aqueous solutions and sewage using natural and surface modified coir pith

Iron impregnated coir pith (CP-Fe-I) can be effectively used for the removal of phosphate from aqueous streams and sewage. Iron impregnation on natural coir pith was carried out by drop by drop addition method. The effect of various factors such as pH, initial concentration of phosphate, contact time and adsorbent dose on phosphate adsorption was studied by batch technique. The pH at 3.0 favored the maximum adsorption of phosphate from aqueous solutions. The effect of pH on phosphate adsorption was explained by pH(zpc), phosphate speciation in solution and affinity of anions towards the adsorbent sites. A comparative study of the adsorption of phosphate using CP-Fe-I and CP (coir pith) was made and results show that the former one is five to six times more effective than the latter. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption process followed a pseudo-second order kinetic model. Adsorption followed Langmuir isotherm model. Column studies were conducted to examine the utility of the investigated adsorbent for the removal of phosphate from continuously flowing aqueous solutions.     

Artificial neural network modeling in competitive adsorption of phenol and resorcinol from water environment using some carbonaceous adsorbents

This paper illustrates the application of artificial neural network (ANN) for prediction of performances in competitive adsorption of phenol and resorcinol from aqueous solution by conventional and low cost carbonaceous adsorbent materials, such as activated carbon (AC), wood charcoal (WC) and rice husk ash (RHA). The three layer's feed forward neural network with back propagation algorithm in MATLAB environment was used for estimation of removal efficiencies of phenol and resorcinol in bi-solute water environment based on 29 sets of laboratory batch study results. The input parameters used for training of the neural network include amount of adsorbent (g/L), initial concentrations of phenol (mg/L) and resorcinol (mg/L), contact time (h), and pH. The removal efficiencies of phenol and resorcinol were considered as an output of the neural network. The performances of the developed ANN models were also measured using statistical parameters, such as mean error, mean square error, root mean square error, and linear regression. The comparison of the removal efficiencies of pollutants using ANN model and experimental results showed that ANN modeling in competitive adsorption of phenolic compounds reasonably corroborated with the experimental results.     

Removal of Neutral Red from aqueous solution by adsorption on spent cottonseed hull substrate

Cottonseed hull, a low-cost widely available agricultural waste in China, after used as substrate for the white rot fungus Pleurotus ostreatus cultivation, was tested for the removal of Neutral Red (NR), a cationic dye, from aqueous solution. A batch adsorption study was carried out with varied solution pH, adsorbent dosage, reaction time and initial NR concentration. The results show that the kinetics of dye removal by the spent cottonseed hull substrate (SCHS) is prompt in the first 5 min and the adsorption equilibrium can be attained after 240 min. The biosorption kinetics and equilibrium follow typical pseudo-second-order and Langmuir adsorption models. Thermodynamic parameters of ΔG°, ΔH° and ΔS° show that the adsorption is a spontaneous and endothermic process. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was used for the characterization of possible dye-biosorbent interaction. This study provides a facile method to produce low-cost biosorbent for the purification of dye contaminated water.     

Removal of disperse dye from aqueous solution by novel adsorbent prepared from biomass plant material

The adsorption of Disperse Orange 25 (3-[N-ethyl-4-(4-nitrophenylazo) phenylamino] propionitrile) onto activated carbon was investigated in a batch system with respect to contact time, carbon dosage, pH and temperature from aqueous solutions. The Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) adsorption models were applied to describe the equilibrium isotherms and the isotherm constants were also determined. The Langmuir isotherm model agrees with the experimental data well. Maximum adsorption capacity (q_max) of Disperse Orange 25 onto adsorbent was 118.93 mg g⁻¹ at 20 °C. The first-order, pseudo-second-order kinetic models and the intraparticle diffusion model were used to describe the kinetic data and the rate constants were evaluated as well. The experimental data fitted very well to pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The results show that activated carbon prepared from Euphorbia rigida by sulfuric acid chemical activation could be employed as low-cost material to compare with commercial activated carbon for the removal of disperse dyes from effluents.     

Removal of toxic zinc from water/wastewater using eucalyptus seeds activated carbon: non‐linear regression analysis

In the present study, a novel activated carbon was prepared from low‐cost eucalyptus seeds, which was utilised for the effectively removal of toxic zinc from the water/wastewater. The prepared adsorbent was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopic characterisation studies. Adsorption process was experimentally performed for optimising the influencing factors such as adsorbent dosage, solution pH, contact time, initial zinc concentration, and temperature for the maximum removal of zinc from aqueous solution. Adsorption isotherm of zinc removal was ensued Freundlich model, and the kinetic model ensued pseudo‐second order model. Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity of the adsorbent for zinc removal was evaluated as 80.37 mg/g. The results of the thermodynamic studies suggested that the adsorption process was exothermic, thermodynamically feasible and impulsive process. Finally, a batch adsorber was planned to remove zinc from known volume and known concentration of wastewater using best obeyed model such as Freundlich. The experimental details showed the newly prepared material can be effectively utilised as a cheap material for the adsorption of toxic metal ions from the contaminated water.Inspec keywords: wastewater treatment, activated carbon, zinc, toxicology, regression analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy, adsorption, pH, reaction kinetics, monolayers, thermodynamics, contaminationOther keywords: Zn, toxic metal ion adsorption, contaminated water, batch adsorber, exothermic process, thermodynamic process, Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity, pseudosecond‐order model, kinetic model, Freundlich model, adsorption isotherm, aqueous solution, temperature value, initial zinc concentration, contact time, pH value, adsorbent dosage, scanning electron microscopic characterisation, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, nonlinear regression analysis, eucalyptus seed activated carbon, wastewater, toxic zinc removal     

Removal of lead (II) and nickel (II) ions from aqueous solution using activated carbon prepared from rapeseed oil cake by Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>CO<Subscript>3</Subscript> activation

In this study, rapeseed oil cake as a precursor was used to prepare activated carbons by chemical activation with sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) at 600 and 800 °C. The activated carbon with the highest surface area of 850 m² g^?1 was produced at 800 °C. The prepared activated carbons were mainly microporous. The activated carbon having the highest surface area was used as an adsorbent for the removal of lead (II) and nickel (II) ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, contact time, and initial ion concentration on the adsorption capacity of the activated carbon were investigated. The kinetic data of adsorption process were studied using pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order kinetic models and intraparticle diffusion model. The experimental data were well adapted to the pseudo-second-order model for both tested ions. The adsorption data for both ions were well correlated with Langmuir isotherm. The maximum monolayer adsorption capacities of the activated carbon for the removal of lead (II) and nickel (II) ions were determined as 129.87 and 133.33 mg g^?1, respectively.     

Removal of dieldrin from aqueous solution by a novel triolein-embedded composite adsorbent

In this study, a novel triolein-embedded activated carbon composite adsorbent (CA-T) was prepared and applied for the adsorption and removal of dieldrin from aqueous systems. Experiments were carried out to investigate the adsorption behavior of dieldrin on CA-T, including adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics, the influence of initial concentration, temperature, shaking speed, pH and the addition of humic acid (HA) on adsorption. The adsorption isotherms accorded with Freundlich equation. Three kinetics models, including pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models, were used to fit the experimental data. By comparing the correlation coefficients, it was found that both pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models were used to well describe the adsorption of dieldrin on CA-T. The addition of HA had little effect on dieldrin adsorption by CA-T. Results indicated that CA-T appeared to be a promising adsorbent for removing lipophilic dieldrin in trace amount, which was advantageous over pure granular activated carbon (GAC). The adsorption rate increased with increasing shaking speed, initial concentration and temperature, and remained almost unchanged in the pH range of 4-8. Thermodynamic calculations indicated that the adsorption reaction was spontaneous with a high affinity and the adsorption was an endothermic reaction.