title: Adsorptive removal of hydrophobic organic compounds by carbonaceous adsorbents: a comparative study of waste-polymer-based, coal-based activated carbon, and carbon nanotubes.
abstract: Adsorption of the hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,3-dichlorobenzene (DCB), 1,3-dinitrobenzene (DNB) and gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) on five different carbonaceous materials was compared. The adsorbents included three polymer-based activated carbons, one coal-based activated carbon (F400) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT). The polymer-based activated carbons were prepared using KOH activation from waste polymers: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) and tire rubber (TR). Compared with F400 and MWNT, activated carbons derived from PVC and PET exhibited fast adsorption kinetics and high adsorption capacity toward the HOCs, attributed to their extremely large hydrophobic surface area (2700 m2/g) and highly mesoporous structures. Adsorption of small-sized TCE was stronger on the tire-rubber-based carbon and F400 resulting from the pore-filling effect. In contrast, due to the molecular sieving effect, their adsorption on HCH was lower. MWNT exhibited the lowest adsorption capacity toward HOCs because of its low surface area and characteristic of aggregating in aqueous solution.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Remediation, Institute of Agro-environmental Protection, Ministry of Agriculture, Tianjin 300191, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lian
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Lingyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Baoshan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D003031:Coal / Q000032:analysis*; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D007700:Kinetics; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D037742:Nanotubes, Carbon; D011108:Polymers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D009532:Nickel