Citation
Abu Bakar, Norlaili
(1999)
Adsorption Studies of Phenols in Aqueous Solution Using Activated Carbon Prepared From Several Part of Oil Palm Tree.
Masters thesis, Universiti Putra Malaysia.
Abstract
The activated carbon used in the adsorption of phenols were prepared
from oil palm trunk, shell and empty fruit bunches. A commercial activated
carbon obtained from a local manufacturer (KI 5060) was used as
comparison.
The study was carried out to investigate several factors affecting the
extent of phenol adsorption. The study was divided into two parts. The first
part was the characterization of the activated carbon including surface area
and porosity analysis, determination of iodine number, ash content, trace
elements, infrared analysis and the morphology of activated carbon. The
second part dealt with the adsorption of phenol and its derivatives onto the
activated carbon. The study included investigation of the effects of initial
concentration, types of activated carbon particles (chips or powder), surface
area, pH solution, and types of substituent groups on adsorption. The higher uptake was achieved in higher concentrations of phenol,
but the percentage removal gave the opposite result. The higher uptake was
also obtained with higher surface area (15-CP) than low surface area due to
more vacant area that need to be occupied. The adsorption of phenol was
constant with low pH solutions and decreased with high pH solutions. Oil
palm trunk gave better adsorption than oil palm shell or empty fruit bunches.
The substituent group of benzene rings of phenol play an important
role in adsorption. The electron withdrawal group (N02 and CI) enhanced the
adsorption; whereas the electron-donating group (CH3) gave the opposite
reaction. The adsorption data were tested for Freundlich and Langmuir
isotherms. In addition, the Brunner, Emmet and Teller (BET) isotherm was
also tested. Phenol and o-nitrophenol followed all adsorption isotherm
(Langmuir, Freundlich and BET), but o-chlorophenol, m-chlorophenol, pchlorophenol,
m-cresol and p-cresol were only valid for Freundlich and BET
isotherm.
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