Phenol Adsorption from Aqueous Phase onto Prepared Low-cost Carbons from Natural Sources: A Comparative Study

This study demonstrates removal of phenol from aqueous solution using the carbons prepared from the natural sources, i.e. olive-pit, date-pit, and pomegranate-kernel in a batch system. For comparison purpose, the adsorption tests were also carried out on a commercial activated carbon. Influences of effective parameters such as pH, adsorbent dosage, contact time, phenol initial concentration and temperature on the removal of phenol from water were investigated. The optimum conditions for maximum adsorption were determined. In this work, the Langmuir and Freundlich models were chosen to evaluate the adsorption isotherms of phenol. The experimental isotherms showed that Freundlich isotherm fit adequately the experimental data for all adsorbents used. The adsorption data followed closely the pseudo-second-order. In addition, thermodynamic analysis was carried out for phenol adsorption. In this work, the two conventional analysis techniques, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), were used to investigate the structural and morphological properties of the adsorbents surface.