Application of carbonaceous materials to phenol removal from aqueous solution by adsorption

Low cost carbonaceous materials were evaluated for their ability to remove phenol from wastewater. The effects of adsorbents dosage, contact time and maximum adsorption capacity were investigated for granular activated carbon, powdered activated carbon, petroleum coke and multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT). Equilibrium studies were conducted in 50mg/L initial phenol concentration, solution pH of 5 and at temperature of 23 degrees C. The results showed the adsorption process was fast and it reached equilibrium in 3 h. Petroleum coke and MWNT had poor adsorption which could reach the removal efficiency of phenol with 43.18% and 36.64% respectively. The granular activated carbon possessed good adsorption ability to phenol with 96.40% at the optimum dosage 5g and optimum time 90min. The powdered activated carbon was an effective adsorbent with a maximum adsorption capacity of 42.32 mg/g.