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A Comparative Study on Activated Carbons Derived from a Broad Range of Agro-industrial Wastes in Removal of Large-Molecular-Size Organic Pollutants in Aqueous Phase

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An Erratum to this article was published on 29 October 2015

Abstract

Microporous–mesoporous activated carbons from five different types of agro-industrial wastes were produced using chemical activation with ZnCl2 and carbonization at mild conditions of 600 °C, comprehensively characterized and investigated for removal of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solution, a model large-molecular-size organic pollutant. The external part of the mango pit (mango seed husk) was used for the production of activated carbon (AC) for the first time. Despite that the raw agro-materials exhibited significantly different porosity, all activated carbons produced possessed well-developed microporous–mesoporous structures showing high surface areas and micropore volumes. Further, it was revealed that the pore size distribution of raw agro-material is a more important property in development of microporous–mesoporous structure of produced ACs than their overall porosity. All activated carbons produced adsorbed MB, reaching in most cases 100 % removal from the aqueous phase. Adsorption data were fitted well to a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. For MB adsorption, the mesoporosity and the ratio of micropores accessible for MB were the key factors since there exists the size-selectivity effect on MB adsorption due to MB molecular dimensions. The molecular dimensions of MB were estimated via DFT calculations to 1.66 × 0.82 × 0.54 nm, and this parameter was correlated with determined micropore size distributions of activated carbons.

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Abbreviations

S BET :

specific surface area calculated according to the classical BET theory (m2/g)

S meso :

mesopore surface area calculated according to the modified BET equation (m2/g)

V intruse :

pore volume determined by high-pressure mercury intrusion (cm3/g)

V micro :

micropore volume calculated according to the modified BET equation (mm3 liq/g)

V net :

net pore volume determined from the nitrogen adsorption isotherm at maximum p/p 0 (~0.9900) (mm3 liq/g)

C modif :

adsorption constant in the first layer calculated according to the modified BET equation (−)

C 0 :

initial concentration of adsorbate in solution (mg/l)

C t :

adsorbate concentration in solution at time t (mg/l)

H :

initial adsorption rate as q t /t approaches 0 (mg/g min)

k 2 :

pseudo-second-order rate constant mg h)/mg h)

m AC :

mass of activated carbon mg h))

q e :

calculated equilibrium adsorption capacity (mg/g)

q t :

amount adsorbed at time t (mg/g)

t :

adsorption time (h)

V :

total volume of solution (l)

CPH-RM:

cocoa pod husk raw material

CH-RM:

coffee husk raw material

CC-RM:

corncob raw material

MSIP-RM:

internal part of the mango pit (mango seed) raw material

MSEP-RM:

external part of the mango pit (mango seed husk) raw material

CPH-AC:

cocoa pod husk-derived activated carbon

CH-AC:

coffee husk-derived activated carbon

CC-AC:

corncob-derived activated carbon

MSIP-AC:

internal part of the mango pit (mango seed)-derived activated carbon

MSEP-AC:

external part of the mango pit (mango seed husk)-derived activated carbon

ε :

porosity of material (%)

ρ Hg :

bulk density of material mg h)/cm3)

ρ He :

skeletal density of material mg h)/cm3)

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Acknowledgments

The National University of Tumbes provided important financial support (Proyecto de Investigación Docente – Resolución N° 1217-2013/UNT-R). The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovación Tecnológica (CONCYTEC) in Peru (joint project reg. No. 002/PE/2012) are also gratefully recognized for their support. The Academy of Finland and the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation (Tekes) are acknowledged for research funding to the AdMatU project from the Development funds and to the HYMEPRO project, respectively. Thanks to Dr. Gladys Ocharan, Alex Diamond, and Hana Šnajdaufová (from ICPF) for technical support and Dr. Tomáš Strašák (from ICPF) for help with DFT calculations.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Laboratorio de Análisis Ambiental, Universidad Nacional de Tumbes, Av. Universitaria s/n, Campus Universitario, Pampa Grande, Tumbes, Peru

    G. J. F. Cruz & C. A. Canepa

  2. Department of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering, Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the CAS, v. v. i, Rozvojová 135, 165 02, Prague, Czech Republic

    L. Matějová & O. Šolcová

  3. Faculty of Technology, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 4300, 90014, Oulu, Finland

    M. Pirilä, K. Ainassaari & R. L. Keiski

  4. Facultad de Ciencias, Laboratorio de Materiales Funcionales, Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería, Av. Tupac Amaru 210, Lima, 25, Peru

    J. Solis

  5. Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional de Piura, Campus Universitario s/n, Urb. Miraflores, Piura, Peru

    J.F. Cruz

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  1. G. J. F. Cruz
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Correspondence to L. Matějová.

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Cruz, G.J.F., Matějová, L., Pirilä, M. et al. A Comparative Study on Activated Carbons Derived from a Broad Range of Agro-industrial Wastes in Removal of Large-Molecular-Size Organic Pollutants in Aqueous Phase. Water Air Soil Pollut 226, 214 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-015-2474-7

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