Nano-activated carbon (NAC) prepared from El-Maghara mine coal were modified with nitric acid solution. Their physico-chemical properties were investigated in terms of methylene blue (MB) adsorption, FTIR, and metal adsorption. Upon oxidation of the ACS with nitric acid, surface oxide groups were observed in the FTIR spectra by absorption peaks at 1750-1250 cm-1. The optimum processes parameters include HNO3/AC ratio (wt./wt.) of 20, oxidation time of 2 h, and the concentration of HNO3 of 10% reaching the maximum adsorption capacity of MB dye. Also, the prepared NAC was characterized by SEM, EDX, TEM, Raman Spectroscopy, and BET analyses. The batch adsorption of MB dye from solution was used for monitoring the behavior of the most proper produced NAC. Equilibrium isotherms of MB dye adsorption on NAC materials were acquired and the results discussed in relation to their surface chemistry. Langmuir model recorded the best interpretation of the dye adsorption data. Also, NAC was evaluated for simultaneous adsorption of six different metal ions (Fe2+, Ni2+, Mn2+, Pb2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+) that represented contaminates in petrochemical industrial wastewater. The results indicated that the extracted NAC from El-Maghara mine coal is considered as an efficient low-cost adsorbent material for remediation in both basic dyes and metal ions from the polluted solutions.
Keywords: El-Maghara mine coal; batch adsorption; mechanism; nano-activated carbon; petrochemical waste water.