Preparation, characterization and application of activated carbon from corn cob by KOH activation for removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solution

Zhiyuan Liu; Yong Sun; Xinrui Xu; Xianghui Meng; Jingbo Qu; Zhi Wang; Changyu Liu; Bin Qu

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123154

Preparation, characterization and application of activated carbon from corn cob by KOH activation for removal of Hg(II) from aqueous solution

Bioresour Technol. 2020 Jun:306:123154. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123154. Epub 2020 Mar 6.

Authors

Zhiyuan Liu¹, Yong Sun¹, Xinrui Xu², Xianghui Meng², Jingbo Qu², Zhi Wang², Changyu Liu³, Bin Qu⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Engineering, Northeast Agriculture University, Harbin 150030, PR China; CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Insitute of Energy Conversion, Guangzhou 510640, PR China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Renewable Resources Utilization Technology and Equipment in Cold Areas of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150030, PR China.
² College of Engineering, Northeast Agriculture University, Harbin 150030, PR China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Renewable Resources Utilization Technology and Equipment in Cold Areas of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150030, PR China.
³ College of Engineering, Northeast Agriculture University, Harbin 150030, PR China; CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Insitute of Energy Conversion, Guangzhou 510640, PR China.
⁴ College of Engineering, Northeast Agriculture University, Harbin 150030, PR China; CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Insitute of Energy Conversion, Guangzhou 510640, PR China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Renewable Resources Utilization Technology and Equipment in Cold Areas of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150030, PR China. Electronic address: qubin@neau.edu.cn.

PMID: 32172084
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.123154

Abstract

In the present study, activated carbon was prepared from corn cob. Corn cob by potassium hydroxide activation. SEM, BET, Raman, FTIR and XPS analysis methods were used to characterize the physical and chemical properties of activated carbon. The effects of adsorbent dosage, adsorption time, pH and initial Hg(II) concentration on mercury ion removal rate were studied. The specific surface area of this material is 1054.2 m² g^-1. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models were used to verify the adsorption isotherms. The adsorption isotherms were simulated well by the Langmuir model, which implied that it is a monolayer adsorption process. The kinetic data conformed to the pseudo-second-order model, which implied that the predominant process is chemisorption.

Keywords: Active carbon; Adsorption; Chemical activation; Corn cob; Mercury ion.