Adsorption Studies of Volatile Organic Compound (Naphthalene) from Aqueous Effluents: Chemical Activation Process using Weak Lewis Acid, Equilibrium Kinetics and Isotherm Modelling

• Main Authors: Adeola A. Akinpelu, Zaira Zaman Chowdhury, Shahjalal Mohd. Shibly, Abu Nasser Mohd Faisal, Irfan Anjum Badruddin, Md. Mahfujur Rahman, Md. Al Amin, Suresh Sagadevan, Omid Akbarzadeh, T. M. Yunus Khan, Sarfaraz Kamangar, Khalisanni Khalid, R. Saidur, Mohd Rafie Johan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: chemical activation process; weak Lewis acid; activated carbon; date seeds (DS); water purification; volatile organic compound (napththalene-C₁₀H₈)
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/4/2090
• ISSN: 1661-6596; 1422-0067

This study deals with the preparation of activated carbon (CDSP) from date seed powder (DSP) by chemical activation to eliminate polyaromatic hydrocarbon—PAHs (naphthalene—C₁₀H₈) from synthetic wastewater. The chemical activation process was carried out using a weak Lewis acid of zinc acetate dihydrate salt (Zn(CH₃CO₂)₂·2H₂O). The equilibrium isotherm and kinetics analysis was carried out using DSP and CDSP samples, and their performances were compared for the removal of a volatile organic compound—naphthalene (C₁₀H₈)—from synthetic aqueous effluents or wastewater. The equilibrium isotherm data was analyzed using the linear regression model of the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin equations. The R² values for the Langmuir isotherm were 0.93 and 0.99 for naphthalene (C₁₀H₈) adsorption using DSP and CDSP, respectively. CDSP showed a higher equilibrium sorption capacity (<i>q</i>_e) of 379.64 µg/g. DSP had an equilibrium sorption capacity of 369.06 µg/g for C₁₀H₈. The rate of reaction was estimated for C₁₀H₈ adsorption using a pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order and Elovich kinetic equation. The reaction mechanism for both the sorbents (CDSP and DSP) was studied using the intraparticle diffusion model. The equilibrium data was well-fitted with the pseudo-second order kinetics model showing the chemisorption nature of the equilibrium system. CDSP showed a higher sorption performance than DSP due to its higher BET surface area and carbon content. Physiochemical characterizations of the DSP and CDSP samples were carried out using the BET surface area analysis, Fourier-scanning microscopic analysis (FSEM), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and Fourier-transform spectroscopic analysis (FTIR). A thermogravimetric and ultimate analysis was also carried out to determine the carbon content in both the sorbents (DSP and CDSP) here. This study confirms the potential of DSP and CDSP to remove C₁₀H₈ from lab-scale synthetic wastewater.