Control of porous size distribution on solvent-free mesoporous carbon and their use as a superadsorbent for 17α-ethinylestradiol removal

This work reports the synthesis of mesopomus carbon using the solvent-free soft template method and their application for the adsorption of the emerging contaminant 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol. For the first time, for the flexible solvent-free method, we evaluated how the precursor carbon/surfactant ratio (p/s), heating rate, stabilization time and self-assembly temperature, can influence textural properties of the materials. According to the results, the carbon source/surfactant ratio was the one which influenced textural characteristics most. The materials synthesized in p/s-1 had a smaller medium pore diameter (3.4 nm) while materials synthesized in p/s-0.5 showed an average diameter of larger pores (4.9 nm). Transmission micrographs indicated the formation of two types of pore ordering: wormholes and honeycombs. However, despite some differences in pore ordering, all materials showed textural quality. We found that the adsorption of 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol is more affected by the diameter, volume and mesopomus content than by the type of pore ordering. Thus, materials with a high diameter and mesopomus content showed 99% removal with a maximum adsorption capacity of 157 mg/g. Also, the adsorption capacity of the material remained almost 100% until the fourth cycle and above 85% until the tenth cycle.

Automated summary

This study synthesized mesoporous carbon using a solvent-free soft template method and investigated the influence of synthesis conditions on material properties, finding that the adsorption performance of the mesoporous carbon is mainly affected by the diameter, volume, and mesoporous content. The adsorption of 17 alpha-ethinylestradiol by the mesoporous carbon showed a removal rate of 99% and remained above 85% even after multiple cycles.