H3PO4-activated carbon fibers of high surface area from banana tree pseudo-stem fibers: Adsorption studies of methylene blue dye in batch and fixed bed systems

The present work reports the preparation and characterization of activated carbon fibers (ACF) from banana tree pseudo-stem. ACF were prepared via slow pyrolysis from two methodologies: (i) direct impregnation of the raw material with H3PO4 and pyrolysis (ACF(I)), and (ii) previous hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of the raw material followed by impregnation with H3PO4 and pyrolysis (ACF(II)). The characterization of materials showed ACF(II) has the higher BET surface area (S-BET) value (1975 m(2) g(-1)) than ACF(I) (1436 m(2) g(-1)), greater uniformity of microfibers and more acidy surface. The ACF(II) was applied on adsorption of methylene blue (MB) dye using the bath and fixed bed systems. The kinetic models of pseudo first-order, pseudo second-order and Elovich, equilibrium models of Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Radushkevich, as well as fixed bed adsorption models of Thomas and Yoon-Nelson were fitted to the experimental data. The results indicated high monolayer adsorption capacity of MB onto ACF(II) (Q(m) = 728.9 mg g(-1)), being the process spontaneous and exothermic. The fixed bed study gave a maximum adsorption capacity (q(s)) of 714.0 mg g(-1), exhaust time 512.4 and R-2 values higher than 0.99 for models of Thomas and Yoon-Nelson. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study reports the preparation and characterization of activated carbon fibers (ACF) from banana tree pseudo-stem using two different methodologies. The ACF(II) prepared with hydrothermal carbonization showed higher BET surface area and better adsorption capacity for methylene blue dye. The adsorption process onto ACF(II) was found to be spontaneous and exothermic, with a high monolayer adsorption capacity and effective performance in fixed bed systems.