Simultaneous removal of lead and phenol contamination from water by nitrogen-functionalized magnetic ordered mesoporous carbon

In this study, a novel nitrogen-functionalized magnetic ordered mesoporous carbon (N-Fe/OMC) with uniform pore size (3.8 nm) and excellent magnetic property (8.46 emu/g) was fabricated through simple impregnation then polymerization and calcination. The resultant adsorbent exhibited more preferential sorption toward Pb(II) and phenol than simple equivalent mixture of magnetic ordered mesoporous carbon (Fe/OMC) and pristine ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC). Binary adsorption showed that the coexistence of Pb(II) and phenol at low concentrations would slightly accelerate their jointly adsorption because of partial complexation between Pb(II) and phenol. While at high concentrations, Pb(II) adsorption would be inhibited in relation to the competition from phenol, but phenol adsorption was scarcely affected due to the directly phenol molecular adsorption pattern. Pb(II) adsorption was more suitable in alkaline solution and affected by ionic strength on account of electrostatic interaction, whereas phenol adsorption was better in neutral pH and hardly interfered by ionic strength as the adsorption was a physical combination process. Thermodynamics indicated that the uptakes of Pb(II) and phenol were endothermic and exothermic processes, respectively. Moreover, N-Fe/OMC could be regenerated effectively and recycled by using dilute NaOH and acetone solutions. These superior properties demonstrate that N-Fe/OMC is attractive for practical applications in treatment of water contamination by Pb(II) and phenol. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.