Various acids functionalized polyaniline-peanut shell activated carbon composites for dye removal

Peanut shell was used to prepare activated carbon (PSAC) by the hydrothermal activation in KOH. The synthesized PSAC was modified using PANI. The functionalized waste peanut shell activated carbon/polyaniline (PANI/PSAC) composite was used for wastewater treatment. The impact of PANI acid doping and the synergistic effect of activated carbon of the adsorbents on MB dye removal were investigated. HCl, H2SO4 and CH3COOH were used as dopants for the composite functionalization. The composites were characterized using SEM, TEM, EDX, XRD, and FTIR. The acid dopants formed nanorods, nanofibers, and nanotubes PANI structures. The PSAC had a surface area of 582 m(2)/g and pore diameter of 1.9052 nm. Adsorption parameters: contact time, pH, adsorbent dose, and solution temperature, were examined. The HCl-P/PSAC had the highest adsorption capacity of 220 mg/g and about 90% removal of the 100 mg/L within 60 min which is 2.3 times the adsorption capacity of PSAC (94.67 mg/g). The adsorption isotherms, kinetics and thermodynamics were investigated. All the prepared composites followed both Langmuir, Freundlich isotherm and the PSO model. The adsorption mechanisms were explained using FTIR. To the author's knowledge, this study represents the first examination of doping acids impact on the PANI/PSAC composite for dye removal.

Automated summary

In this study, peanut shell was used to prepare activated carbon and modified to form a composite material for wastewater treatment. The impact of acid doping on the composites and its mechanism for dye removal were investigated.