Removal of Phenol from Water Using an Activated Carbon Prepared from Juniperus Thurifera Tree

Abstract

The present paper aims to study the feasibility of using an activated carbon prepared by Juniperus thurifera tree as an adsorbent to remove phenol from water by adsorption. The impact of initial phenol concentration, contact time, pH, and adsorbent mass on phenol adsorp-tion capacity was investigated. It was reported that the highest adsorption capacity is achieved at pH=3.4, phenol concentration of 50 mg/L, adsorbent mass of 100 mg, and time 24 h. Freundlich, Langmuir, and Temkin isotherm equations were used to best fit our experimental data. Hence, Freundlich model was found to be the best model with R2 = 0.9893. The thermodynamic results revealed that the adsorption of phenol onto the activated carbon was spontaneous and exothermic. Furthermore, the adsorption kinetic study indicated that the adsorption process follows the pseudo-first-order kinetic model.