A Novel Phenolic Foam-Derived Magnetic Carbon Foam Treated as Adsorbent for Rhodamine B: Characterization and Adsorption Kinetics

• Main Authors: Yao Zhang, Qiuyi Wang, Ru Li, Zhichao Lou, Yanjun Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-03-01
• Series: Crystals
• Subjects: adsorption; magnetic; carbon foam; kinetics; phenolic resin
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/10/3/159

In recent decades, dye wastewaters produced by dye-manufacturing and dye-consuming industries have become a growing water pollution problem. Herein, a novel phenolic foam-derived magnetic carbon foam is synthesized by in-situ pyrolysis of iron acetylacetonate (Fe(acac)₃) containing phenolic resin and its corresponding application as an adsorbent for the removal of Rhodamine B from effluent is investigated. The characterization of the as-prepared adsorbent is carried out by SEM, EDS, XRD, XPS, VSM, FT-IR, Raman, and BET. The magnetic carbon foam is observed to consist of a CFe_15.1/C matrix modified with α-Fe/Fe₃C/Fe₂O₃ composites, possessing a 3D porous architecture formed by inter-connected cells with diameters of 50−200 μm and narrow ligaments with thicknesses of ~20 μm. Experimental tests demonstrate that the equilibrium of adsorption behavior of Rhodamine B onto the obtained adsorbent can be reached within 40 min and the corresponding maximum adsorption capacity is 258.03 mg/g. The effects of contact time and adsorbent dosage on the adsorption performance are investigated. Besides, four models are introduced to fit the experimental data to evaluate the adsorption kinetics. The overall rate constant is determined by the chemisorption process, according to the pseudo-second order adsorption kinetics mechanism. Besides, the pH effect on RhB adsorption onto magnetic carbon foam is investigated, with the pH values varying from 3 to 10. The above results prove the application prospect of magnetic carbon foam prepared in this work in dye wastewater treatment.