Study on the adsorption performance and competitive mechanism for heavy metal contaminants removal using novel multi-pore activated carbons derived from recyclable long-root Eichhornia crassipes

Fangjun Cao; Cheng Lian; Jianguo Yu; Hongjun Yang; Sen Lin

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.007

Study on the adsorption performance and competitive mechanism for heavy metal contaminants removal using novel multi-pore activated carbons derived from recyclable long-root Eichhornia crassipes

Bioresour Technol. 2019 Mar:276:211-218. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.007. Epub 2019 Jan 4.

Authors

Fangjun Cao¹, Cheng Lian², Jianguo Yu³, Hongjun Yang⁴, Sen Lin⁵

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Research Center for Integrated Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China; College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Shaanxi, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
² School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
³ National Engineering Research Center for Integrated Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Yunnan Research Institute of Ecological Agriculture, Yunnan, China.
⁵ National Engineering Research Center for Integrated Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China; State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Risk Assessment and Control on Chemical Process, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China; Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: linsen@ecust.edu.cn.

PMID: 30640014
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.007

Abstract

Long-root Eichhornia crassipes has shown great remediation capacity for eutrophication while the dispose of massive plants reaped is a pressing challenge for its large-scale application. In this study the waste plants were reclaimed and employed to prepare multi-pore activated carbons (MPAC) with high specific surface area through a simple gradient heating method. Owing to the large specific surface area and abundant multiple functional groups, the MPAC exhibited great adsorption performances for heavy metals with great adsorption capacities and rapid rate. Careful adsorption investigation indicated that the adsorption was mainly controlled by a charge transfer complex pattern. In addition, the adsorption impetuses were heterozygous involving electrostatic interaction, electron sharing or electronic-donor-acceptor interaction, etc. Moreover, the competitive adsorption reflected adsorption preference existed in the heavy metal removal using the MPAC as adsorbents due to the imparities in the adsorption affinity, thus resulting in the differences of the adsorption tolerance to exogenous influence.

Keywords: Activated carbon; Competitive adsorption; Gradient heating; Heavy metal contaminants; Long-root Eichhornia crassipes.

MeSH terms

Adsorption
Charcoal / chemistry*
Eichhornia / metabolism*
Metals, Heavy / isolation & purification*
Porosity

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Charcoal