Adsorption of Phenol from Aqueous Solution on Commercial Activated Carbon

Adsorption of Phenol from Aqueous Solution on Commercial Activated Carbon

• Autor
• Bruna Raquel Bezerra Félix
• Co-autores
• Gabriel Souza do Lago , Wendy de Oliveira Nunes , João Fernandes de Sousa , Francisco Wilton Miranda da Silva , Rafael Barbosa Rios
• Resumo

• Industrial effluents containing phenol are toxic to human health and aquatic organisms. Phenol cannot be effectively removed from water by conventional methods, making adsorption a promising alternative for this type of separation.  This study aims to collect kinetic, isothermal and thermodynamic data, in addition to evaluating the removal of phenol from aqueous media through adsorption using commercial activated carbon Norit RB4. Therefore, adsorption equilibrium tests were carried out to obtain isotherms at 298.15, 313.15, and 328.15 K, resulting in maximum adsorption capacities of 151.34, 133.45, and 123.87 mg/g, respectively. When comparing the isotherms at 298.15, 313.15, and 328.15K, it was observed that the adsorbed amount decreased across the entire concentration range as the temperature increased. By applying the Langmuir isotherm model, standard enthalpy (?H° = -11.07 kJ/mol), standard entropy (?S° = -0,02575 kJ/mol.K), and standard Gibbs free energy (?G° = -3.393, -3.006, and -2,620 kJ/mol at 298.15, 313.15, and 328.15K, respectively) values were calculated. The results indicate that the adsorption process is physical, since ?H° is less than 20 kJ/mol, exothermic because ?H° < 0, and spontaneous because ?G° < 0. Therefore, commercial activated carbon Norit RB4 is effective in removing phenol from aqueous solutions due to its high adsorption capacity and the favorable thermodynamic properties observed.

• Palavras-chave
• phenol; adsorption; Norit RB4; activated carbon; isotherm.
• Área Temática
• Adsorção aplicada ao meio ambiente