161
Views
5
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Civil Engineering

Investigation of adsorption of methylene blue from aqueous phase onto coal-based activated carbons

, , , , , , , & show all
Pages 355-360 | Received 26 Apr 2014, Accepted 14 Mar 2017, Published online: 10 Apr 2017
 

Abstract

We prepared activated carbons (ACs) from coal samples ranking from lignite to anthracite. The pore structures and surface functional groups of the obtained ACs were examined by nitrogen adsorption isotherm, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Boehm’s titration method. Isothermal adsorption experiments using methylene blue (MB) solution were conducted to evaluate the adsorption capacities of the ACs. The obtained ACs had different sorption properties due to their differences in structural characteristics and surface chemical groups. The maximum adsorption was achieved using the ACs made from low-ranked lignite coals. The MB adsorption process could be described well by the intra-particle diffusion model with a wide range of effective diffusion coefficients. The results indicated that both the proportion of mesopores and the number of basic sites within the ACs mainly governed the MB adsorption capacities.

Acknowledgments

The authors express their sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Science and Technology, ROC, and Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences, Mongolia for their financial support under contract number NSC 100-2923-E-197 -001 -MY3.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.