Adsorption studies of methylene blue onto ZnCl2-activated carbon produced from buriti shells (Mauritia flexuosa L.)

The present study reports the preparation of an activated carbon produced from buriti shells (AC_b) using ZnCl₂ as activating agent and its ability to remove methylene blue dye (MB) from aqueous solutions. The obtained AC_b was characterized by N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms, SEM and FT-IR. The results show that AC_b presents microporous features with BET surface area (S_BET) of 843 m² g^?1 and functional groups common in carbonaceous materials. Adsorption studies were carried out and experimental data were fitted to three isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, and Redlich–Peterson) and four kinetic models (pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, Elovich, and intraparticle diffusion). The isotherm model which best fitted to experimental data was Redlich–Peterson. However, the g parameter of this model indicated that the adsorption of MB onto AC_b occurs according to the mechanism proposed by Langmuir, which showed maximum monolayer adsorption capacity of 274.62 mg g^?1. Kinetic studies demonstrated that the Elovich model is suitable to describe the experimental data. Moreover, it was found that the intraparticle diffusion is the limiting step of adsorption process.