Abstract
Phenol components are major industry contaminants of aquatic environment. Among all practical methods for removing phenol substances from polluted water, activated carbon absorption is the most effective way. Here, we have produced low-cost activated carbon using Polygonum orientale Linn, a wide spreading species with large biomass. The phenol adsorption ability of this activated carbon was evaluated at different physico-chemical conditions. Average equilibrium time for adsorption was 120 min. The phenol adsorption ability of the P. orientale activated carbon was increased as the pH increases and reached to the max at pH 9.00. By contrast, the ionic strength had little effect on the phenol absorption. The optimum dose for phenol adsorption by the P. orientale activated carbon was 20.00 g/L. The dominant adsorption mechanism of the P. orientale activated carbon was chemisorption as its phenol adsorption kinetics matched with the pseudo-second-order kinetics. In addition, the equilibrium data were fit to the Langmuir model, with the negative standard free energy and the positive enthalpy, suggesting that adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic.
Highlights
Phenol is one of human carcinogen with characteristic pungent smell and taste
The dominant adsorption mechanism of the P. orientale activated carbon was chemisorption as its phenol adsorption kinetics matched with the pseudo-second-order kinetics
Attention has been increasingly concentrated on controlling phenol substances from industrial wastewater for decades, and limits have been placed on the amounts of phenol discharged, to attempt to ameliorate the direct and potentially negative impacts of phenol on the aquatic environment [4, 5]
Summary
With low solubility in water, low amount of phenol components could severely affect human and aquatic organisms’ gastrointestinal system and cause nausea, erythema, deep necrosis [1, 2]. Phenol substance is one of the major contaminants in the aquatic environment of from many modern industries, such as the coal conversion, dye manufacturing, papermaking, pesticide, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and textile industries, etc [2]. It has been listed as one of the US Environmental Protection Agency priority pollutants [2, 3]. There are various chemical, physical, physicochemical, and biological methods used to remove phenol from wastewater [6, 7], such as distillation [8], extraction with membrane adsorption [9], PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0164744 October 14, 2016
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