Advanced sustainable carbon material from babassu biomass and its adsorption performance

Activated carbon (AC) wasprepared from babassu mesocarp, an abundant biomass inBrazil. Thermal pre-treatments, including hydrothermal carbonization and pyrolysis at different temperatures were applied along with potassium hydroxide activation, in synthesizing ACs with varying structure, electronic and surface properties. A thorough characterization of the ACs revealed their low structural order and high specific surface area, containing micropores and mesopores. Furthermore, negatively charged surface oxygen functional groups make them potential candidates as adsorbents for cationic chemical species. A detailed study of adsorption of methylene blue cationic dye was carried out by varying time, initial concentration, pH and ionic strength of the dye solution, which showed that the chief driving force of this adsorption is the Coulombic interaction on the surface, followed by diffusion throughout the pores. These ACsshowed fast and efficient dye uptake - the best sample showedequilibrium adsorption capacity of 388 mg g(-1) for methylene blueand 220 mg g(-1) for another cationic dye crystal violetduring 6 h -and thereby can be used as renewable and sustainable adsorbents.

Automated summary

Activated carbon (AC) was synthesized from babassu mesocarp through thermal pre-treatments and potassium hydroxide activation, resulting in ACs with varied structure and surface properties. The ACs exhibited low structural order, high specific surface area, micropores, mesopores, and negatively charged surface oxygen functional groups, making them potential adsorbents for cationic chemical species. The adsorption of methylene blue cationic dye on the ACs, driven by Coulombic interaction and diffusion, demonstrated fast and efficient dye uptake, making them renewable and sustainable adsorbents.