RESUMEN
The preparation of activated carbons from bean pods waste by chemical (K(2)CO(3)) and physical (water vapor) activation was investigated. The carbon prepared by chemical activation presented a more developed porous structure (surface area 1580 m(2) g(-1) and pore volume 0.809 cm(3) g(-1)) than the one obtained by water vapor activation (258 m(2) g(-1) and 0.206 cm(3) g(-1)). These carbons were explored as adsorbents for the adsorption of naphthalene from water solutions at low concentration and room temperature and their properties are compared with those of commercial activated carbons. Naphthalene adsorption on the carbons obtained from agricultural waste was stronger than that of carbon adsorbents reported in the literature. This seems to be due to the presence of large amounts of basic groups on the bean-pod-based carbons. The adsorption capacity evaluated from Freundlich equation was found to depend on both the textural and chemical properties of the carbons. Naphthalene uptake on biomass-derived carbons was 300 and 85 mg g(-1) for the carbon prepared by chemical and physical activation, respectively. Moreover, when the uptake is normalized per unit area of adsorbent, the least porous carbon displays enhanced naphthalene removal. The results suggest an important role of the carbon composition including mineral matter in naphthalene retention. This issue remains under investigation.
Asunto(s)
Carbono/química , Naftalenos/análisis , Purificación del Agua/métodos , Adsorción , Biomasa , Carbonatos/química , Fabaceae/química , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Naftalenos/química , Oxígeno/química , Porosidad , Potasio/química , Espectrofotometría Infrarroja/métodos , Propiedades de Superficie , Eliminación de Residuos Líquidos/métodos , Agua/química , Contaminantes Químicos del AguaRESUMEN
Porous carbon has been prepared from waste antibiotic material by a chemical activation method using K(2)CO(3) as an activating reagent. Carbon was studied systematically by the adsorption of nitrogen and iodine. It was found that the process parameters such as activation temperature and activation time are crucial for preparing high-quality activated carbon. The proper choice of the preparation conditions allows to produce microporous activated carbon with a micropore volume up to 0.492 cm(3)/g and a BET surface area of 1260 m(2)/g. Adsorption of mercury(II) from an aqueous solution on antibiotic carbon was investigated under the varying conditions of agitation time, metal ion concentration and pH. The adsorption capacity of the carbon is 129 mg/g.