Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) shell-based activated carbon by CO2 activation in removing of Cationic dye from aqueous solution: Kinetics and equilibrium studies

Cocoa shell (CS) was used as a low-cost precursor for production of activated carbon (AC) and evaluated for its ability to adsorb Methylene Blue (MB) dye. Cocoa shell-based pellets were carbonized at 800 °C and subjected to 850 °C under a flow of CO₂ in different activation times. The cocoa (Theobroma cacao) shell-based activated carbon (CSAC) showed moderate surface area with the average pore size 2.7 nm. CSAC also displays the presence of aliphatic, aromatic hydrocarbons and near absence of C–O, carboxylic acid, and the –COOH functional group. Only the presence of O–H groups was detected. The influences of adsorption time and initial dye concentration on adsorption performance have been measured in a batch system. The results are well described by the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms. The results from the kinetic study show that MB adsorption follows pseudo-second-order and Boyd models, which indicated the MB adsorption on the CSAC was controlled by film diffusion.