The effects of the thermal treatment of activated carbon on the phenols adsorption

Enhanced Adsorption of Tetracycline by Thermal Modification of Coconut Shell-Based Activated Carbon

Tetracycline (TC) is one of the most frequently detected antibiotics in various water matrices, posing adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems. In this study, coconut shell-based powdered activated carbon (PAC) was thermally modified under various temperatures to enhance TC adsorption. The PAC subjected to 800 °C (PAC800) showed the best TC adsorption. PAC and PAC800 were characterized using N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherm, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, XRD, Boehm titration, and zeta potential analyses. Increases in the specific surface area, C/O ratio, C=O, surface charge, basic groups, and the number of stacked graphene layers along with a decrease in structural defects were observed for PAC800 compared to PAC. The TC adsorption was significantly improved for PAC800 compared to that of PAC, which is attributable to the enhanced electrostatic attraction and π-π EDA interactions induced by the changes in the properties. The Freundlich isotherm was the best fit indicating the heterogeneous nature, and the Freundlich constant of PAC and PAC800 increased from 85.8 to 119.5 and 132.1 to 178.6 (mg/g)‧(L/mg)^1/n, respectively, when the temperature was increased from 296.15 to 318.15 K. The kinetics were well described by the pseudo-second-order adsorption model and the rate constant of PAC and PAC800 increased from 0.80 to 1.59 and from 0.72 to 1.29 × 10^-3 g/mg‧min, respectively, as the temperature was increased. The activation energy of PAC and PAC800 was 23.7 and 19.6 J/mol, respectively, while the adsorption enthalpy was 196.7 and 98.5 kJ/mol, respectively, indicating endothermic nature. However, it was suggested that TC adsorption onto PAC800 was more favorable and was more contributed to by physisorption than that onto PAC. These results strongly suggest that the properties, adsorption capacity, and adsorption mechanisms of carbonaceous adsorbents can be significantly changed by simple thermal treatment. More, the results provide valuable information about the design of carbonaceous adsorbents with better performance where the structures and functional groups, which positively affect the adsorption, must be improved.

Physicochemical Characterization of Santa Barbara Amorphous-15 (SBA-15) and Its Functionalization with Polyaniline for Phenol Adsorption

The chemical surface of Santa Barbara Amorphous-15 (SBA-15) was functionalized with polyaniline (SBA-15/PA) and was prepared using aniline and ammonium persulfate as the modifying agent and oxidant. The samples were characterized by N2 physical adsorption at 77 K. SBA-15’s surface area was 654.5 m2 g−1, changing to 254.6 m2 g−1. The total acidity and basicity were determined using a modified Boehm’s method, and the point of zero charge pH (pHpzc) was determined. Immersion calorimetry in water, benzene, and NaOH, HCl, and phenol (100 mg L−1) solutions was performed, producing values ranging from −15.1 to −174.1 J g−1 related to the chemical surface, pHpzc, and acid and base group values. Finally, the phenol adsorption capacity was found to be higher for the modified polyaniline silica, at 138 mg g−1.

Studies on Carbon Materials Produced from Salts with Anions Containing Carbon Atoms for Carbon Paste Electrode

In the presented work, the properties of carbon materials obtained in the reaction of sodium bicarbonate (C-SB) and ammonium oxalate (C-AO) with magnesium by combustion synthesis were investigated. For the materials obtained in this way, the influence of the type of precursor on their properties was analyzed, including: Degree of crystallinity, porous structure, surface topography, and electrochemical properties. It has been shown that the products obtained in magnesiothermic process were found to contain largely the turbostratic carbon forming a petal-like graphene material. Both materials were used as modifiers of carbon paste electrodes, which were then used to determine the concentration of chlorophenol solutions by voltammetric method. It was shown that the peak current determined from the registered differential pulse voltammograms was mainly influenced by the volume of mesopores and the adsorption capacity of 4-chlorophenol for both obtained carbons.

Adsorptive and Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes, Activated Carbon, and Graphene Oxide with Relatively Similar Specific Surface Area

Three carbon materials with a highly diversified structure and at the same time much less different porosity were selected for the study: single-walled carbon nanotubes, heat-treated activated carbon, and reduced graphene oxide. These materials were used for the adsorption of 2,4-D herbicide from aqueous solutions and in its electroanalytical determination. Both the detection of this type of contamination and its removal from the water are important environmental issues. It is important to identify which properties of carbon materials play a significant role. The specific surface area is the major factor. On the other hand, the presence of oxygen bound to the carbon surface in the case of contact with an organochlorine compound had a negative effect. The observed regularities concerned both adsorption and electroanalysis with the use of the carbon materials applied.

The study on adsorption behavior of 2,4-DCP in solution by biomass carbon modified with CTAB-KOH

In this study, rice straw was used to prepare biomass carbon, which was modified with KOH and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) to obtain modified biomass carbon (MBC). The biomass carbon (BC) before and after modification was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and the surface morphology, crystal structure and surface group characteristic BC were explored. The specific surface area and micropores of the modified biomass carbon increased significantly, the crystallinity was higher, and the pore structure was more clearly found. The adsorption performance of MBC for 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) was investigated. The results showed that under the best adsorption conditions ((2,4-DCP concentration (200 mg/L), MBC dosage (50 mg), pH (5.5), and loading time (60 min), temperature (room temperature)), the removal rate of 2,4-DCP was up to 42.5%, and adsorption capacity was 85.13 mg/g. The adsorption of 2,4-DCP on MBC materials was better explained by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. It was believed that the adsorption of 2,4-DCP by MBC was the monolayer adsorption process on the uniform surface of MBC at high concentration, and there was no interaction between the 2,4-DCP and MBC adsorbate during this process.

Sequential Production of Levulinic Acid and Porous Carbon Material from Cellulose

A sequential production of levulinic acid (LA) and porous carbon material (CM) from cellulose was conducted by a two-step process. The cellulose was first acid hydrolyzed, and the preferred reaction conditions required a severity factor of 4.0⁻4.5, in which the yields of LA, formic acid, and solid residue were 38 ± 3 wt%, 17 ± 3 wt%, and 15 ± 3 wt%, respectively. The solid residue was further used for CM preparation through pyrolysis, with or without ZnCl₂ activation. The ZnCl₂ activation promoted the formation of CMs with improved thermal stability, high surface area (1184⁻2510 m²/g), and excellent phenol adsorption capacity (136⁻172 mg/g). The used CM can be easily regenerated by a simple methanol Soxhlet extraction process, and a comparable phenol adsorption capacity of 97 mg/g was maintained for the 5th reusing. Finally, 100 g cellulose produced 40.5 g LA, 18.9 g formic acid and 8.5 g porous CM, with a total carbon utilization ratio reaching 74.4%.