2008, Vol.9, No.3

Carbon Letters 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 1.35 KCI-WoS Impact Factor : 4.82

pISSN : 1976-4251 / eISSN : 2233-4998
https://journal.kci.go.kr/carbon

Batch sorption experiments were carried out for the removal of metylene blue from its aqueous solution using H3PO4 activated Acacia arabica carbon (AAC). The prepared activated carbon was characterized and was found as an effective adsorbent material. The operating variables studied were initial metylene blue concentration, AAC concentration and solution pH. AAC activated carbon posses a maximum sorption capacity for the range of initial dye concentrations studied (60 ~ 100 mg L−1). The sorption kinetics were analyzed using reversible first order kinetics, second order, reversible first order, pseudofirst order, and pseudo-second order model. The sorption data tend to fit very well in pseudo-second order model for the entire sorption time. The average pseudo-second order rate constant, KII and regression coefficient value were determined to be 0.0174 mg g−1 min−1 and 0.9977. The biosorption process also fit well to reversible I order kinetics with a regression coefficient of 0.9878.

Porous carbon materials synthesized from various plant derived precursors i.e. seeds of [Castor (Ricinus communis), Soap nut ( Sapindus sp.), Cashew-nut (Semecarpus anacardium), Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius), Ambadi (Crotolaria juncea), Neem (Azadirachta indica), Bitter Almond (Prunus amygdalus), Sesamum (Sisamum indicum), Date-palm (Phoenix dactylifera),Canola (Brassica napus), Sunflower (Helianthus annulus)] and fibrous materials from [Corn stem- (Zea mays) , Rice straw (Oryza sativa), Bamboo (Bombax bambusa) and Coconut fibers (Cocos nucifera)] were screened to make supercapacitor in 5M KOH solution. Carbon material obtained from Jack fruit seeds (92.0 F/g), Rice straw (83.0 F/g), Soap nut seeds (54.0 F/g), Castor seeds (44.34 F/g) and Bamboo (40.0 F/g) gave high capacitance value as compared to others. The magnitude of capacitance value was found to be inversely proportional to the scan rate of measurement. It is suggested that carbon material should possess large surface area and small pore size to get better value of capacitor. Moreover, the structure of carbon materials should be such that majority of pores are in the plane parallel to the plane of electrode and surface is fluffy like cotton ball.

A nanocomposite consisting of Fe3O4 and MWCNT was produced via sol-gel technique using FeCl3 along with MWCNTby calcination at 300oC. The degradation effect of rhodamine B dye has been investigated under UV illumination in adarkroom. The degradation reaction was studied by monitoring the discoloration of dye as a function of irradiation time usingUV-visible spectrophotometeric technique. The Fe3O4-MWCNT samples have continuous degradation ability under the UVillumination with the first order kinetics and the dye removal was better than in the pristine Fe3O4. The resultant compositecatalyst was found to be efficient for the photo-Fenton reaction of the dye.