The adsorption efficiency of commercial activated carbon toward ibuprofen (IBU) was investigated and described using the adsorption dynamic intraparticle model (ADIM). Although the adsorption capacity of activated carbon has been widely studied, the kinetic models used in the literature are simplified, treating adsorption kinetics with pseudo-kinetic approaches. In this paper, a realistic model is proposed, quantitatively describing the influence of the main operation parameters on the adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics. The thermodynamic data were interpreted successfully with the Freundlich isotherm, deriving an endothermic adsorption mechanism. The system was found to be dominated by the intraparticle diffusion regime, and the collected data allowed the determination of the surface activation energy (E S = 60 ± 7 kJ/mol) and the fluid–solid apparent activation energy (E A = 6 ± 1 kJ/mol). The obtained parameters will be used to design adsorption columns, allowing the scale-up of the process.

Phenol is widely used in industry. Due to its high stability and toxicity, it represents a threat to the environment and human health. In this study, a kinetic investigation of phenol heterogeneous photodegradation was conducted using commercial Aeroxide P-25, performing experiments in a wide range of conditions. In detail, a negligible adsorption effect was detected. An activation energy of Ea = 14.3 ± 0.5 kJ mol−1 was measured, and the catalyst loading effect indicated an optimal condition due to the shield of the catalyst particles to the UV irradiation. The catalyst was most active at pH = 7 and it was stable for 25 h of reaction time; thus, it will be worth to investigate its application in flow.

No abstract

No abstract