Removal of Anthraquinone Dyes from Aqueous Solutions Using Activated Carbon Fiber Prepared from Polyacrylonitrile Waste

Abstract

In this study, the adsorption of three different blue anthraquinone dye classes (Reactive, Acid and Disperse dyes) were investigated using activated carbon fibre prepared from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) waste. The use of polyacrylonitrile based activated carbon fiber (PAN-ACF) for the adsorption of these dyes has been examined using exhaustion method at different operational conditions such as dye concentration and adsorption temperature. It was found that the adsorption of the anthraquinone dyestuffs on PAN-ACF increased with increasing temperature. In addition, the prepared ACFs exhibited higher adsorption capacities for the non-ionic anthraquinone based disperse dye than those of the anionic anthraquinone based reactive and/or acid dyes.