KOH activated cattail-leaf-based carbon as an effective adsorbent for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions

In this paper, activated carbon was prepared from cattail leaves (C-AC) by two-step procedures using KOH as the activation agent. The structure and morphology of C-AC were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, nitrogen adsorption and X-ray diffraction. C-AC that was highly porous and had a high specific surface area (1546.56 m(2).g(-1)) were obtained under activation at 750 degrees C for 40 min, which the adsorption process and equilibrium of methylene blue closely obeyed the pseudo-second -order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm. The adsorption capacity reached 498.95 mg.g(-1) with 15 mg adsorbent in 100 mg.L-1 for 30 min at 303.15 K. The adsorption was endothermic, spontaneous, and a physically control led process. This work provides a potential adsorbent from cattail leaves for purification of wastewater containing dyes.