Acid-functionalized
mesoporous carbons (AF-MPCs) have been synthesized
and used as adsorbents for removal of an azo dye, Eriochrome Black-T
(EBT), from aqueous solution. To generate acid surface functionalities,
mesoporous carbons (MPCs) were treated with sulfuric acid. Characterization
of the samples was analyzed by XRD, Raman spectra, N2 adsorption–desorption,
FE-TEM, TGA, and FT-IR studies. The adsorption studies were carried
out under various parameters, such as pH, adsorbent dosage, contact
time, initial dye concentration solution temperature, and salt concentration.
The results showed that the EBT adsorption onto samples was affected
by the pH of solution; the maximum EBT ion adsorption took place at
pH 1; and the adsorption uptake was increased with an increase in
the initial dye concentration. Moreover, the mechanism of adsorption
was investigated using kinetic, diffusion, and isotherm models. The
best fit was obtained by the Langmuir model with high correlation
coefficients (R
2 = 0.9463) with a maximum
monolayer adsorption capacity of 117.0 mg·g–1. The adsorbed anionic EBT dye molecules were eluted by ethanol solvent
with the recovery percentage of 98%. Moreover, this study demonstrates
that AF-MPCs can be successfully used as a low-cost adsorbent for
the removal of EBT from aqueous solutions.