Hyperbranched Polyethylenimine Modified Waste Fiberboard Activated Carbon for Enhanced Adsorption of Hexavalent Chromium

The objective of this work is to prepare a hyperbranched polyethylenimine (HBPEI) grafted activated carbon obtained from waste fiberboard for effectively removing Cr(VI) from aqueous solution. The waste fiberboard activated carbon (WFAC) was modified by HBPEI and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde (GA). The optimal modified conditions were as follows: HBPEI molecular weight 10,000 g/mol, HBPEI/WFAC (w/w) 0.5, GA concentration 0.25%, reaction time 60 min. Both pristine WFAC and HBPEI–WFAC were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and Roman spectra. XPS data showed the obvious increase in nitrogen (from 0.72% to 6.65%) after modification. The results of FTIR and XPS suggested that HBPEI was chemically bonded onto the WFAC by the glutaraldehyde (GA) between the amine groups of WFAC and that of HBPEI. HBPEI was also probably grafted onto WFAC through the intermolecular interaction between the carboxylate groups of WFAC and the amine groups of HBPEI. However, the BET surface area of modified WFAC declined slightly (about 200 m²/g). The I_D/I_G of modified WFAC decreased from 0.92 to 0.82, which indicated that the modification process had no significant effect on the graphitization of activated carbon. The adsorption property onto HBPEI–WFAC and the factors containing contact time, pH value, and Cr(VI) concentration were also investigated. Analysis of the Cr(VI) adsorption data was well simulated by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model, and maximum Cr(VI) uptake of HBPEI–WFAC was 500 mg/g.