Abstract
The adsorptive removal of environmental pollutants is an effective method for the treatment of contaminated water. Thus, the preparation of adsorbents from low-cost, readily available, and renewable resources has garnered immense attention in recent years. In this study, a facile one-step method for the preparation of a high-capacity adsorbent is demonstrated by refluxing pine cones in concentrated sulfuric acid. With sulfuric acid reflux, the pine cones undergone carbonization as well as functionalization with sulfonic acid groups. The adsorbent demonstrated high adsorption capacity for two emerging organic pollutants, methylene blue (MB) and tetracycline (TC). Different variables such as pH, temperature, contact time, and initial concentration of the pollutants were analyzed and showed that the adsorption capacity for MB increased in a basic pH and vice versa for TC. Also, the elevated temperature favored the adsorption for both MB and TC. The maximum adsorption capacity was found to be 1666.66, and 357.14 mg g−1 for MB and TC, respectively. In comparison to the pristine pine cone, the sulfuric acid treated pine cone demonstrated an extraordinary improvement in the adsorption capacity. The adsorption of MB and TC was performed from the tap water matrix and similar adsorption capacities were found. A packed glass column was also prepared to demonstrate the adsorption of MB from tap water under flow conditions.
Highlights
There has been an emphasis on the conversion of biomass to biofuels,[3] the development of new methods to generate bio-derived products such as bio-plastics,[4] bio-oils,[5] biogas,[6] bio-molecules,[7] bio-char[8] and most recently bio-carbon products has been increasing.[9]
The morphology and the elemental composition of the PC-SO3H were characterized by the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and SEMEDX analyses
In compared to the surface area of the modi ed and unmodi ed pine cone, reported in literature,[38] the speci c surface area of the PC-SO3H was found to be higher by several orders of magnitude
Summary
Biomass conversion into fuels and commodity products has attracted considerable attention due to the large range of bene ts of environmental sustainability.[1,2] there has been an emphasis on the conversion of biomass to biofuels,[3] the development of new methods to generate bio-derived products such as bio-plastics,[4] bio-oils,[5] biogas,[6] bio-molecules,[7] bio-char[8] and most recently bio-carbon products has been increasing.[9]. The rapid growth of population and increased industrialization are leading to the scarcity of water in many sectors.[18] In the clean water sector, water contamination with organic compounds and heavy metals is becoming a serious health concern in both rural and urban areas. Clean water is becoming increasingly scarce almost everywhere in the world.[19] For example, organic dyes are used in a variety of important industries, including but not limited to: textile, paper, paint, plastic, leather, food, cosmetic, and pharmaceuticals.[20] In the textile industry, it is estimated that every year up to 20 000 tons of these dyes are lost in the process and end up in fresh water bodies.[21] These untreated wastewaters
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