Adsorption of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid by mesoporous activated carbon prepared from H3PO4-activated langsat empty fruit bunch

Njoku VO 1 , Islam MA 2 , Asif M 3 , Hameed BH 4

Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia; Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Imo State University, P.M.B. 2000, Owerri, Nigeria
  • 2 School of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia; Forestry and Wood Technology Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna 9208, Bangladesh
  • 3 Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Saud University, P.O. Box 800, Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arabia
  • 4 School of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia. Electronic address: chbassim@usm.my
J Environ Manage, 2015 May 1;154:138-44.
PMID: 25721981 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.02.002

Abstract

The removal of toxic herbicide from wastewater is challenging due to the availability of suitable adsorbents. The Langsat empty fruit bunch is an agricultural waste and was used in this study as a cheap precursor to produce activated carbon for the adsorption of herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) at different initial concentrations ranging from 50 to 400 mg/L. The produced Langsat empty fruit bunch activated carbon (LEFBAC) was mesoporous and had high surface area of 1065.65 m(2)/g with different active functional groups. The effect of shaking time, temperature and pH on 2,4-D removal were investigated using the batch technique. The adsorption capacity of 2,4-D by LEFBAC was decreased with increase in pH of solution whereas adsorption capacity increased with temperature. The adsorption data was well described by Langmuir isotherm followed by removal capacity of 261.2 mg/g at 30 °C. The results from this work showed that LEFBAC can be used as outstanding material for anionic herbicide uptake from wastewater.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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