Author(s): Zarroug Manel, Keng Yuen Foo, Souad Najar Souissi, Ouederni Abdelmottaleb
Linked Author(s): Keng Yuen Foo
Keywords: Acetaminophen, activated carbon, adsorption, phosphoric acid, pomegranate peel, steam
Abstract: In this work, pomegranate peel (PP), the by-products that abundantly available from the fruit processing industries, has been applied as the renewable resources for the preparation of low cost, eco-friendly and high quality activated carbons. A comparison of the activating conditions, phosphoric acid and phosphoric acid/steam assisted activation on the physical and chemical properties of PP derived carbon adsorbents has been evaluated. The prepared adsorbents were featured as a mean of nitrogen adsorption-desorption curve and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The adsorptive behavior was examined with respect to the innovative treatment of acetaminophen, a widely applied pharmaceutical, characterized by the acute toxicity, carcinogenic and mutagenic effects. These newly prepared activated carbons showed the high BET surface area and total pore volumes of 1354 m2/g and 0. 705 cm3/g; and 1819 m2/g and 1. 040 cm3/g, respectively. The adsorption performance illustrated an encouraging result towards the adsorptive removal of acetaminophen. The equilibrium data were best confronted to the Langmuir isotherm model, with the monolayer adsorption capacities of 85. 49 mg/g and 189. 61 mg/g for PAC and PSAC, respectively. The obtained findings supported the high economical and technical feasibility of PP derived activated carbons as a viable solution for the effective treatment of pharmaceutical contaminants
Year: 2017