Preparation of sustainable activated carbon-alginate beads impregnated with ionic liquid for phenol decontamination

Powder activated carbon (PAC), derived from calligonum pollygonides, was successfully modified with the ionic liquid (IL) trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bromide ([PC6C6C6C14][Br]) in the presence of sodium alginate and characterized using SEM, FTIR and TGA. PAC, granular AC (GAC), AC-alginate and AC-Alg-IL bead were assessed for the removal of phenol from aqueous media via batch adsorption. Both PAC and AC-Alg-IL beads displayed high adsorption capacities, 123 mg/g and 78 mg/g, respectively, under optimized conditions. In contrast, GAC gave a much lower adsorption capacity than AC-ALG-IL beads, indicating that AC-ALG-IL beads are superior as potential adsorbents for this industrial application. Theoretical studies showed that the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models were suitable to describe the adsorption process. The interaction between phenol and AC-Alg-IL beads was analyzed using the conductor-like screening model for realistic solvents (COSMO-RS). It has been concluded that AC-Alg-IL beads can be used as an efficient adsorbent for phenol and other organic compounds.

Automated summary

The study modified powder activated carbon with ionic liquid and sodium alginate, resulting in AC-Alg-IL beads with high adsorption capacity for phenol. Theoretical models showed that pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models were suitable for describing the adsorption process. The interaction between phenol and AC-Alg-IL beads was analyzed using the COSMO-RS model, concluding that AC-Alg-IL beads can efficiently adsorb phenol and other organic compounds.