In this study, activated carbon produced from oak cupules (ACOC) was prepared using chemical activation with H3PO4. ACOC is subsequently used as an adsorbent to facilitate the removal of an acidic dye, naphthol blue black (NBB), and basic dye crystal violet (CV) from aqueous solutions. The ACOC was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, and SEM. The adsorption isotherm data fits well with the Langmuir model for NBB and CV. The kinetic models of adsorption of NBB and CV by ACOC were pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters were evaluated and indicated that the adsorption of both dyes onto ACOC was endothermic and spontaneous. The adsorption capacity of ACOC reached 208 mg g-1 for NBB and 658 mg g-1 for CV. ACOC was shown to be a promising adsorbent for the removal of NBB and CV from aqueous solutions.
Keywords: activated charcoal; adsorption; crystal violet; naphthol blue black; oak cupules; wastewater treatment.