Removal of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Aqueous Solution on Soybean Stalk–based Carbon

Abstract

Soybean [ (L.) Merr.] stalk-based carbons were prepared by phosphoric acid activation at different carbonization temperatures. Characteristics of the prepared carbon, including specific surface area, iodine number, and amount of methylene blue sorption, were determined. Experiments on phenanthrene, naphthalene, and acenaphthene, as representatives of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), removal from aqueous solution by the prepared carbon were conducted at different levels of carbon addition. The results indicated that the specific surface area, iodine number, and amount of methylene blue sorption increased with an increase of carbonization temperature. The maximum values were observed at 700°C and were 287.63 m g, 508.99 mg g, and 90.14 mg g, respectively. The removal efficiencies of phenanthrene, naphthalene, and acenaphthene tended to increase with increasing carbon amounts and carbonization temperature. The optimal removal performance was obtained under the experimental conditions of carbon concentrations of 0.04 g 32 mL and carbonization temperature of 700°C, and the removal efficiencies of phenanthrene, naphthalene, and acenaphthene were 99.89, 100, and 95.64%, respectively. The performance of the prepared carbon was superior to that of commercial activated carbon. Additionally, for the same carbon concentrations, the removal efficiency of PAHs on prepared carbons followed the order: phenanthrene > naphthalene > acenaphthene. Results obtained from this work provide some insight into the reuse of an agricultural residue, and also provide a new application for the treatment of PAHs in contaminated water utilizing activated carbon prepared from agricultural residues.

Phenanthrene Removal from Aqueous Solution on Sesame Stalk‐based Carbon

“…In addition, linear isotherm was a significant regression, suggesting that the dominant mechanism may be the partitioning of phenanthrene between the prepared carbon and the solution. Similar phenomena were observed for PAHs sorption by other carbonaceous materials such as fibric peat 27, modified pine bark 28, plant residue materials (wood chips, ryegrass roots, orange peels, bamboo leaves, and pine needles) 30, soybean stalk‐based biochar 54, and soybean stalk‐based carbon 55. Moreover, the equilibrium sorption isotherm was also well described by the two three‐parameter models, the Toth and Langmuir–Freundlich isotherms, with R 2 values >0.979 and p values <0.001, implying that the sesame stalk‐based carbon surface may be heterogeneous.…”

Cellulosic substrates for removal of pollutants from aqueous systems: A review. Part 4. Dissolved petrochemical compounds

“…Several studies have considered the extent to which the oxygen content of the surface of cellulose-based sorbentsespecially activated carbon productshas an influence on the uptake of various petrochemical compounds from solution (Franz et al 2000;Galiatsatou et al 2002;Alvarez et al 2005;László et al 2006;Fierro et al 2008). In many such studies, the adsorbed amounts were found to decrease as the oxygen content of the adsorbent surfaces became higher Mahajan et al 1980;Tessmer et al 1997;Franz et al 2000;Li et al 2002;Salame and Bandosz 2003;Dąbrowski et al 2005;Mestre et al 2007;Okawa et al 2007;Stavropoulos et al 2008;Blanco-Martínez et al 2009;Leyva-Ramos et al 2009b;Kong et al 2011a;Sun et al 2012b;Das et al 2013;Olivella et al 2013). In other cases there was little observed effect when comparing adsorbents having different levels of surface oxygen groups Haydar et al 2003).…”

Nonpoint Source Pollution, Environmental Quality, and Ecosystem Health in China: Introduction to the Special Section

“…straw has shown high adsorption capacity of copper ions from experimental aqueous solutions (Zhu et al, 2008). In their article, Kong et al (2011) demonstrate the removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from aqueous solution by phosphoric acid‐activated carbonized soybean stalk waste product. With PAH removal rates >95%, the soybean stalk‐derived adsorbent outperformed commercial activated charcoal.…”