Equilibrium adsorption isotherm study of binary basic dyes on to bamboo derived activated carbon

ABSTRACT

In the present study, a high surface area activated carbon (HSA1) is produced from waste bamboo scaffolding by low temperature chemical activation with phosphoric acid. The single and binary component adsorption capacities of basic dyes, namely, Basic Yellow 11 (BY11) and Maxilon Red GRL 200% (MR), were conducted on HSA1 and a commercially available carbon, Calgon Filtrasorb® 400 (F400). HSA1 showed up to five times higher adsorption capacities for both dyes in single and binary systems than F400. The adsorption capacity of the individual dyes in the binary system was lower than in the single component system. The equilibrium adsorption data for the binary-component system were analysed. Extended single-component equilibrium isotherm models were used to predict the experimental data. The extended Freundlich model was overall the best fitted to the experimental data for both activated carbons, suggesting significant non-ideal effects and heterogeneous surfaces for the basic dye binary adsorption system with activated carbons.

KEYWORDS:

• Activated carbon
• bamboo
• adsorption
• basic dye
• isotherm modelling

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Research Grant Council – University Grants Committee, the Innovation and Technology Fund of the HKSAR Government, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Green Island International Ltd.

ORCID

W H Cheung http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3134-5709

G McKay http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6086-2564

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Innovation and Technology Commission; Green Island International Ltd; Research Grants Council – University Grants Committee.

Notes on contributors

L S Chan

Ir L S Chan, BEng, MPhil, CEng, MIChemE, MHKIE. Ir Chan is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with 11 years of post-graduation experience in environmental consultancy and process engineering. She previously worked in The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), conducting research works for identifying the dye adsorptive capability of the bamboo produced activated carbon, which is a potential technology for wastewater treatment. Ir Chan was awarded the First Runner-Up in the 2011 Environmental Paper Award of the HKIE Environmental Division.

W H Cheung

Dr W H Cheung, BSc, Ph.D., MIET, MIEAust, MRACI, CChem. Dr Cheung is a Chartered Chemist and specialises in wastewater treatment, waste management, and environmental risk management. As a co-author, he has been shortlisted in the HKIE Outstanding Paper Award for Young Engineers / Researchers 2012 and awarded the First Runner-Up in the 2011 Environmental Paper Award of the HKIE Environmental Division and Certificate of Merit in the 2012 Environmental Paper Award of the HKIE Environmental Division.

S J Allen

Emeritus Prof S J Allen, BSc, Ph.D., FIChemE. Prof Allen is the DuPont Professor of Process Engineering of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Queen’s University of Belfast in Northern Ireland. He held the post of the Head of School of Chemical Engineering for a term of eight years. His areas of research are focused on adsorption and the environment with specific interests in the modification of adsorbents with different functional groups; natural adsorbents for the removal of pollutants from aqueous solution and from gaseous systems; adsorbent surface chemistry in the mechanism of dye adsorption; the development of mass transfer and diffusion models to describe the adsorption processes. He is also the Editor of Chemical Engineering Journal.

G McKay

Prof G McKay, BTech, Ph.D., DSc, CChem, CEng, CEnv, FIChemE, FIE, FInstPetrol, FIQA, FRSC, FHKIE. Prof McKay has almost 40 years of experience in the academia and industry. He is currently a Professor of Sustainable Development at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Prior to this, he was the Head of Department and Professor in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the HKUST. During his time in Hong Kong, he was the Chairman of the Chemical Discipline Advisory Panel of the HKIE. Prof McKay has over 400 publications in international refereed journals and authored eight books about energy, environment and process design. He co-authored the third most cited paper (6000 cites to date) ever in the SCI Chemical Engineering sector and has an h-index of 85.