Study on efficient removal of clopyralid from water using resorcinol-formaldehyde carbon cryogel

Abstract

Resorcinol-formaldehyde carbon cryogel has been prepared, characterized and used for the removal of commonly used herbicide clopyralid from the aqueous solutions under varying experimental conditions. Carbon has shown a relatively high specific surface area, significant mesoporosity and an amorphous structure. A set of the following isotherm models has been used to interpret the equilibrium data: Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin, Dubinin-Radushkevich, Jovanovic, Hurkins-Jura, and Helsey model. Several models have fitted well although the calculated values for qmax poorly correlate with the data obtained experimentally. The kinetic models of the pseudo-first and pseudo-second-order, the models of Elovich, Bangham and the intraparticle diffusion model have been used for fitting the kinetic data. The rate of the process is fast in the beginning while adsorption equilibrium is attained not until 24 hours. Adsorption was found to be pH dependent and favored in acidic solutions.