Promising application of waste bamboo biomass-derived carbon for efficient ibuprofen removal from aqueous systems
Yue Guo, Dawei Lü, Zedong Wang, Qingyue Wang
Abstract
Biomass-derived activated carbon is an advancing adsorbent for pollutant removal from the aqueous environment, attributed to its high adsorption capacity and cost-effectiveness. This work synthesized multiple ACs under diverse preparation conditions using bamboo waste biomass as the precursor. The characteristics and adsorption behavior of the resulting carbon were widely investigated and discussed. The AC synthesized at 500 ℃ for 60 min showed the highest specific surface area (1827 m 2 /g) with dominant microporosity. The adsorption process was conducted under various conditions such as initial concentration (10–200 mg/L), pH (2−10), contact time (1–240 min), and adsorption temperature (288–308 K) of the ibuprofen solution. The AC synthesized at 700 ℃ for 60 min which has the highest micropore structure exhibited the maximum removal efficiency of 93 %, and the favorable pH was 2, demonstrating the dominant role of pore filling, hydrophobic and π-π interactions, which have provided high surface area and selectivity for enhancing adsorption capacity. It also showed the maximum adsorption capacity of 142 mg/g based on PSO model calculation with an IBP initial concentration of 100 mg/g, pH= 7 at 298 K. The adsorption process achieved equilibrium in 60 minutes and was well described by pseudo-second-order kinetic and Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm models. These findings demonstrated that ZnCl 2 activation at moderate temperatures can efficiently produce high-surface-area ACs with significant adsorption capacity for IBP, offering a low-energy and cost-effective method for carbon synthesis.