Preparation and evaluation of an effective activated carbon from white sugar for the adsorption of rhodamine B dye

Activated carbon (AC) has been widely used in wastewater treatment for a long time. However, the applications of the AC are limited by the difficulties associated with their regeneration process after usage. Fortunately, the samples in this study could not only be regenerated for many times, but also maintained its adsorption efficiency. Herein, highly porous carbon has been prepared from white sugar using acid dehydration method. The prepared carbon was activated in a nitrogen environment which resulted in the formation of the activated sugar-based carbon (ASC). The ASC was characterized using some classical characterization techniques such as (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)). The obtained findings reveal that the pore parameters of the ASC were considered adequate for adsorption, for instance 1144.77 m(2)/g, 0.53 cm(3)/g and 2.17 nm were recorded for the surface area, pore volume and pore size respectively. Furthermore, the ASC was used for the adsorption with the rhodamine B (Rhd B) solution and maximum adsorption efficiency of about 98.28% and adsorption capacity of 123.46 mg/g were achieved within the 12th minutes contact time. More interestingly, the ASC was found to be regenerated up to 7-times and the data related to the equilibrium and kinetic of the Rhd B adsorption onto ASC obeyed Langmuir isotherm and pseudo-second order models, respectively. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.