Approaches to mitigate the impact of dissolved organic matter on the adsorption of synthetic organic contaminants by porous carbonaceous sorbents

Journal Article · Thu Nov 15 04:00:00 EST 2007 · Environmental Science and Technology

OSTI ID:20969922

Guo, Yanping; Yadav, Abhishek; Karanfil, Tanju ^[1]

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1. Clemson University, Anderson, SC (United States). Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

Adsorption of trichloroethylene (TCE) and atrazine, two synthetic organic contaminants (SOCs) having different optimum adsorption pore regions, by four activated carbons and an activated carbon fiber (ACF) was examined. Adsorbents included two coconut-shell based granular activated carbons (GACs), two coal-based GACs (F400 and HD4000) and a phenol formaldehyde-based activated carbon fiber. The selected adsorbents had a wide range of pore size distributions but similar surface acidity and hydrophobicity. Single solute and preloading (with a dissolved organic matter (DOM)) isotherms were performed. Single solute adsorption results showed that (i) the adsorbents having higher amounts of pores with sizes about the dimensions of the adsorbate molecules exhibited higher uptakes, (ii) there were some pore structure characteristics, which were not completely captured by pore size distribution analysis, that also affected the adsorption, and (iii) the BET surface area and total pore volume were not the primary factors controlling the adsorption of SOCs. The preloading isotherm results showed that for TCE adsorbing primarily in pores <10 {angstrom}, the highly microporous ACF and GACs, acting like molecular sieves, exhibited the highest uptakes. For atrazine with an optimum adsorption pore region of 10-20 {angstrom}, which overlaps with the adsorption region of some DOM components, the GACs with a broad pore size distribution and high pore volumes in the 10-20 {angstrom} region had the least impact of DOM on the adsorption. 25 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 20969922
• Journal Information: Environmental Science and Technology, Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 41; ISSN ESTHAG; ISSN 0013-936X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTIVATED CARBON
ADSORBENTS
ADSORPTION
ADSORPTION ISOTHERMS
AZINES
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
DECONTAMINATION
DISTRIBUTION
ETHYLENE
ORGANIC MATTER
PORE STRUCTURE
POROSITY
SIZE
SOLUTES
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
SURFACE AREA