Sulphur-doped carbon particles from almond shells as cheap adsorbent for efficient Cd(II) adsorption

Abstract

One of the ways to increase the adsorption capacity of carbon-based materials is to add heteroatoms. However, the use of sulphur-doped carbons is quite limited. This study includes the production of activated carbon (AC) from almond shells by microwave heating and KOH chemical agent and sulphur doping by hydrothermal heating treatment of the obtained ACs with sulphuric acid for Cd(II) adsorption. The thermogravimetric/differential thermal analyser (TG-DTA), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and nitrogen adsorption analyses were performed for characterization. For KOH-MA-S, the FTIR spectra peaks associated with the S O stretching vibration appeared at approximately 1153 cm −1 and 1024 cm −1 . The SEM image of the KOH + MA + S sample shows that a heterogeneous and layered structure is formed again due to the collapse or coalescence of the pores with the hydrothermal sulphuric acid activation on the carbonaceous surface. While there is almost no sulphur in the KOH-MA sample, there is approximately 9 % sulphur in the KOH-MA-S sample in the EDS results. The adsorption performance, kinetics, thermodynamics and mechanism for Cd(II) adsorption on sulphur doped ACs were evaluated. The isotherm and kinetic results showed that Cd(II) adsorption on sulphur-doped AC fits the Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetics with high correlation values. The adsorption capacity values (Qm) obtained for Cd(II) adsorption were 282.70 mg/g. • ACs based on almond shells by microwave heating with KOH activation were prepared. • Sulphur doped ACs by hydrothermal sulphuric acid treatment was prepared. • Cd(II) adsorption by sulphur doped AC was carried out. • Qm value for Cd(II) adsorption was 222.38 mg/g. • Adsorption mechanism of Cd(II) on sulphur doped AC was evaluated.