Removal of pyridine from aqueous solution by adsorption on an activated carbon cloth Article uri icon

abstract

  • Pyridine is a very toxic pollutant that has to be removed from wastewater. In this work, adsorption of pyridine on activated carbon cloth (ACC) is studied as a possible alternative for eliminating pyridine from aqueous solution. The ACC was produced from polyacrylonitrile. The adsorption equilibrium data of pyridine on ACC was obtained in a batch adsorber. The experimental data was interpreted with the isotherms of Langmuir, Freundlich, and Prausnitz-Radke (PR), and the PR isotherm better represented the experimental data. The capacity of ACC for adsorbing pyridine was favored increasing the solution pH from 3 to 6, and this effect was due to the π-π dispersive and electrostatic interactions between the pyridine species in solution and the surface complexes of ACC. The modified Langmuir model fitted reasonably well the influence of pH on the adsorption capacity. In this model was assumed that both neutral pyridine and pyridinium were simultaneously adsorbed on ACC accordingly to the experimental results. The adsorption capacity was almost independent of temperature. The reversibility study revealed that 75%25 of the pyridine can be desorbed from ACC indicating that part of the pyridine was irreversibly adsorbed, and possibly chemisorbed. Activated carbon from coconut shells and peanut shells showed high capacities and activated carbon cloths from cellulose and polyacylonitrile exhibited reasonable capacities for adsorbing pyridine. The adsorption can be explained by mechanisms such as electrostatic interactions, π-π dispersive interactions, and chemisorption, which are pH dependent. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH %26 Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
  • Pyridine is a very toxic pollutant that has to be removed from wastewater. In this work, adsorption of pyridine on activated carbon cloth (ACC) is studied as a possible alternative for eliminating pyridine from aqueous solution. The ACC was produced from polyacrylonitrile. The adsorption equilibrium data of pyridine on ACC was obtained in a batch adsorber. The experimental data was interpreted with the isotherms of Langmuir, Freundlich, and Prausnitz-Radke (PR), and the PR isotherm better represented the experimental data. The capacity of ACC for adsorbing pyridine was favored increasing the solution pH from 3 to 6, and this effect was due to the π-π dispersive and electrostatic interactions between the pyridine species in solution and the surface complexes of ACC. The modified Langmuir model fitted reasonably well the influence of pH on the adsorption capacity. In this model was assumed that both neutral pyridine and pyridinium were simultaneously adsorbed on ACC accordingly to the experimental results. The adsorption capacity was almost independent of temperature. The reversibility study revealed that 75%25 of the pyridine can be desorbed from ACC indicating that part of the pyridine was irreversibly adsorbed, and possibly chemisorbed. Activated carbon from coconut shells and peanut shells showed high capacities and activated carbon cloths from cellulose and polyacylonitrile exhibited reasonable capacities for adsorbing pyridine. The adsorption can be explained by mechanisms such as electrostatic interactions, π-π dispersive interactions, and chemisorption, which are pH dependent. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

publication date

  • 2012-01-01