Removal of chlorophenols from wastewater using commercial acid washed activated carbon.

The presence of chlorophenols in wastewater represents a serious challenge for its treatment and its further reuse. In this study, the use of commercial acid washed activated carbon as sorbent material for the removal of 2 chlorophenol, 2,4 dichlorophenol and 2,4,6 trichlorophenol from synthetic. aqueous solutions is evaluated. Variables affecting the uptake of these compounds (weight of sorbent material, pH, temperature and shaking time) are investigated to achieve the optimum conditions of removal process. The kinetics of the uptake process indicated that the process was best explained using a pseudo-second order model. As well, the adsorption of the studied chlorophenols on commercially available AC followed the Freundlich isotherm. The thermodynamic parameters further indicated the favorability of the process and that the adsorption was primarily physical in nature enhanced by chemisorptions.